City Hall - July 1, 2007 by City Hall News

Ernest Logan leads a CSA restructuring

(Page 13), Assembly Member James Brennan, right, does the math on his bid for city comptroller (Page 27)

and State Sen. Eric Adams, left, explains how his police background helps him Back in the

Vol. 2, No. 2

July 2007

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TOP TEN

THE CITY’S Lobbying is big business in New York City and State, and getting bigger. Almost half of the $44 million spent in the city in 2006 passed through just 10 firms, earning them spots on the city clerk’s list of Top 10 Lobbyists for 2006 and profiles in City Hall new annual section, the City’s Top 10.

Page 15

INDEX: Amanda Burden discusses the future of city development Page 2

The July Poll: Which Council Member Would Make the Best TV Judge? Page 11

In the Chair: Vincent Gentile Page 14

Where Are They Now? finds former Koch press secretary Bill Rauch in South Carolina Page 29

Taxi Owners Fret Over Bloomberg’s Hybrid Plan Page 32

District (Page 28).

Can Save the New York GOP

? “

BY EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE

nybody here a Republican?” Greg Lehman is standing on 79th Street and First Avenue on the East Side of Manhattan. He rocks back and forth in his tan New Balance sneakers. One woman in her early thirties smiles at him.

“Anybody a Republican here?” he asks as she approaches. “No, not really,” she says. Lehman’s question, though, is not academic or existential. He is on the sidewalk this hot Saturday afternoon in early July gathering ballot petition signatures for district leaders, members of the county committee and delegates to judicial CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

JULY 2007

CITY HALL

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ON/OFF THE RECORD BREAKFAST

Inside the City Planning Commission Amanda Burden discusses development and re-zoning

City Hall: Is there a general principle you think can and should be applied to city planning in New York? Amanda Burden: Yes, there is a very basic principle about really trying to direct growth, to channel growth, in the city. We welcome growth. We want growth. The density, the sense of really welcoming people from all over the world to come and make their livelihood in New York, in all the boroughs of New York. So, first and foremost, I have to say, it’s a five borough policy, a five borough economic policy, and that is what Mayor Bloomberg said from the very beginning of his administration. And you can feel it. CH: How does preservation figure into planning, in your view? AB: Preservation is a very, very important component of planning because areas, historic districts, significant landmarks, keep our sense of place, continuity of history, of visual things that really keep the historic bones of the city. And one principle I also should mention as we plan every one of the 188 neighborhoods throughout the city, instead of doing broad-brush planning, what we should really do is look at each neighborhood; they’re all different, they all have different strengths. CH: You have your own aesthetic sensibilities, as anybody does. How do those play into the type of planning decisions you make? AB: You’ve probably heard rumors that I’m very passionate about architecture. It really feeds into economic development. But the thing I care the most about, and I’m really, really, really passionate about, is the street life. One of the first things we did was to pass the small sidewalk café legislation. Sidewalk cafés, you know, it just adds to the vitality and pleasure of living in the city. Public open space, how people feel about a street, no blank walls. … Every project I look at, large or small scale, large rezoning, small rezoning, I always bring it down to the street. Is there going to be continuity of retail, are there going to be green spaces, are there going to be tree plantings? How can you build a fabric that’s going to make people really love the city? So I always look down and say, “What’s the sidewalk width?” That’s really, really, really important, because it just adds to the fabric of an area. CH: Does the supposed real estate bubble or fear of it bursting affect the decisions of the planning commission? AB: No, I have a very strong attitude about that, because it is the most important thing that you can do for the economy of the city and we have to plan for growth to ensure that we have a greater city in the future. Now this real estate bubble has an incredibly expanding

membrane, and the membrane is very strong, so we don’t think it’s going to happen. But from our point of view we believe you plan optimistically for the future. CH: What does PlaNYC mean for your agency? AB: One of the first PlaNYC endeavors we’ve just launched last week in the public review process—and it sounds like a small thing, but it’s not, I think you all could appreciate it—it’s new standards for parking lots. Just think about all the giant asphalt fields. They look terrible, but worse than that, when it rains all of that rainwater goes quickly into the storm waters, flooding communities throughout the city. So these asphalt parking lots not only look bad, they damage our storm water system and our sewage system in the city in the summer. … You will be required to build islands, planted islands in the middle of the parking lot. This is totally standard in suburban communities but it’s not here, and those islands will have trees planted in them, so there will basically be one tree for every eight spaces, and these will be built for the first time, in the first city in the country, to what we call bio-effectively capture the rainwater. CH: Will developers looking to do sustainable or green projects be looked on more favorably? AB: Not exactly. Green building standards, that’s not the appropriate role for zoning. But you will see that coming from the Buildings Department, the Department of Design and Construction, and the Department of Environmental Protection. This is an inter-agency effort, and we all compliment each other in our expertise. CH: PlaNYC has obviously become a politicallycharged issue. In general, how do you see politics affecting decisions made by the planning commission? AB: Half of city planning, three quarters of city planning, is about building consensus. And that’s exactly what PlaNYC is going through now. It always makes a better plan. So when we start out with a zoning plan, we go to communities and we get their input, and when it begins the public review process, it’s fine-tuned and changed and it’s always made better. I serve two jobs around the agency, as director of the department and then I chair the planning commission. And we have hearings, and those public hearings often change my thoughts about a particular project after the hearing, as they do for my fellow commissioners. CH: The demise of the West Side Stadium plan reinforced the idea in some people’s minds that the era of big projects in New York is over. What is your take on that? AB: The West Side plan is a master plan with a lot of parks and open space, a mid-block boulevard between Tenth and Eleventh avenues, and rezoning for 24 million square feet of office space, more than 13,000 units of housing, including significant affordable housing. And all that is passed, actually got through the City Council while the discussion for the stadium was done. In fact, in terms of large plans, that was gigantic, so that was an amazing effort. CH: So how much of your day do you spend just walking the streets? AB: I spend my weekends in very curious places, so I won’t approve a rezoning until I’ve walked the area three times. It’s a lot when Jamaica, it’s 368 blocks,

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

manda Burden, director of the New York City Planning Commission, was the featured speaker at the fourth City Hall On/Off the Record Breakfast, held at the Commerce Bank flagship location on 42nd Street and Madison Avenue on June 27. An intimate crowd heard Burden discuss her views on development and rezoning in the five boroughs, as well as her thoughts on the supposed real estate bubble, PlaNYC and the presidential chatter about Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Several other topics came up during the off-the-record portion of the morning. Some excerpts from the on-the-record portion of Burden’s interview:

Amanda Burden, director of the City Planning Commission, speaks at a breakfast hosted by City Hall and Commerce Bank. that’s a very large rezoning, and that’s the way anybody who works at city planning knows, that you have to walk and walk and walk. I do it on the weekends. CH: Where should New York look to for guidance in planning the city? AB: I think the most important thing to do is actually to go to other cities and look at them. I went a couple of weeks ago to Copenhagen with the new transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan. ...They had fantastic pools, but right on the edge of the waterfront, and they just came in and it was floated there and they used the water from the Copenhagen River. And it totally worked. There were lots and lots of lessons about public open space. CH: You were a well-known personality around the city before you were the city planning commissioner. Does having a reputation for things outside of being planning commissioner affect what you are able to get done? AB: Anything that helps. Eight years is very short to really set a blueprint for the city, so anything to help get things done I use. CH: Whether or not he runs, do you think the talk about Mayor Bloomberg’s presidential prospects will help the administration avoid getting caught in the typical lame duck situation which often affects the end of second terms? AB: If it does that is fantastic. It certainly is the talk of [the] town. But he is an extraordinary mayor, you will never find a mayor who understands the complexity of issues. And when there is a challenge which seems insurmountable, he will analyze it and look at the pros and cons and the ways through it, and he will devise solutions to the most complex problems across the board. CH: Has he talked to you about his plans for his own political future? AB: No. I can’t understand why not. [Laughs.]

For more from the interview, including Burden’s thoughts on other positions in government which might suit her and her take on Robert Moses, go to

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CITY HALL

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JULY 2007

ISSUE FORUM:

HOMELAND SECURITY/EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT One does not have to live in Lower Manhattan to be concerned with homeland security or in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward to think about emergency management. New Yorkers feel these worries acutely, and with

London police finding car bombs last month and the height of hurricane season fast approaching, City Hall askedseveral of the state’s top officials for their thoughts on these crucial topics.

Public Safety—Our Most Basic Duty major initiatives launched by Gov. Spitzer and his security team.

BY DEPUTY SECRETARY MICHAEL BALBONI THAT

Confronting the Threat of Terrorism

New York remains a top terrorist target. In addition to terrorism, hurricanes, natural disasters and health related emergencies all prove our need to be ready to care for and protect our citizens. The thwarted plot to ignite jet fuel tanks at JFK International Airport in Queens is the most recent evidence that people with very bad intent, if not the immediate means of doing harm, have New York very much on their minds. This recent event proves that we must continue to be ever alert and aware—from our first responders, who are our front line of defense, to every citizen in this state. If you see something suspicious, contact local law enforcement or call the New York State Terrorism Tips hotline at 1-866-SAFE-NYS. In New York City, call 1-888-NYC-SAFE. On Jan. 1, Gov. Spitzer directed a system-wide review of New York’s security posture so that the most crucial issues would be addressed, whether they relate to man-made terrorism or natural disasters. Because threats evolve and maintaining readiness for disaster is a dynamic business, I would like to outline the

We know that terrorists around the world continue to focus on transportation targets. In New York, we are continuing to make to make regional rail security more robust by enacting these steps: Joint National Guard/Port Authority Police “pop-up” patrols have been implemented on the PATH system. New York State led this effort and worked cooperatively with our security partners at the Port Authority and the State of New Jersey. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has launched a “Directed Patrol” strategy for the region’s commuter rail systems (Metro North and the Long Island Railroad). Working with local law enforcement agencies in the communities these trains travel through, police officers (both in uniform and undercover) now regularly visit outlying stations and passenger platforms. New York State Police, the Transportation Security Administration and local police departments in the upstate cities of Syracuse, Utica and Rome are conducting rail passenger screenings at Amtrak stations.

WELL

ESTABLISHED

Rail freight safety has been improved by working with the private sector. CSX Transportation has provided secure access to state law enforcement and Homeland Security officials regarding near real-time information on its hazardous materials rail movements.

Preparing for Natural Disasters New York has learned much from recent natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. Severe weather is the most likely cause to disrupt our daily lives. Therefore, we are enhancing our ability to communicate with our citizens in times of emergency. The October 2006 snowstorm in Western New York left many air and New York State Thruway travelers stranded with little information about road closures or when help might arrive. On June 1, New York State launched a new free website, NY-ALERT.gov, which will provide emergency information to the public either statewide or in targeted locations. By early September, members of the public will be able to sign up to receive emergency updates. The methods of receiving alerts through this mass notification system include activation of the traditional Emergency Alert System, text messages

to cell phones and pagers, blast faxes and the use of variable message signs on highways. The public can choose the area(s) for which they want to be kept informed.

Offering Leadership Under Gov. Spitzer’s direction, we are working daily with local governments to ensure that we are doing everything possible to protect our citizens. We will continue to move forward. We can no longer go along with the status quo. We must be proactive. We must search for smarter ways to serve our fellow New Yorkers. They demand it. And they deserve it.

Michael Balboni is Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s deputy secretary for public safety.

Continuing to Provide the Institutional and Financial Support to Fight Terror BY STATE SEN. VINCENT LEIBELL YORK STATE IS THE national epicenter for the intense focus and study of homeland security. A state of approximately 19 million people containing the nation’s largest city, which serves as the financial capital of the world, together with a unique geography that includes one of the nation’s longest coastlines, New York presents a serious target for both terrorists and natural disasters alike. Since the horrifying events of September 11, 2001, New York State has worked tirelessly with its partners in the federal and local governments to improve homeland security and promote the safety and public protection of its people. In the span of these years, it has become evident that much needs to be done, and new, creative strategies must be developed to do everything possible to protect our citizens.

Almost every expert on homeland security has declared that it is not a matter of “if” we see another attack on our soil, it is a matter of “when.” As chair of the State Senate’s Standing Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs, I take this warning seriously and am actively and aggressively looking for actions that will promote public protection. It is the goal of our committee not only to make certain that the public sector is able to react to any situation, but also, through detailed analysis and planning, to anticipate those events that may cause harm to our state. In so doing, our committee has recommended a great many changes and proposals, from preventing terrorism to providing for improved responses to both attacks and natural disasters. During this past year, my staff and I have met with many officials from a wide range of agencies. It is absolutely imper-

ative that this committee work closely with these organizations to give them the resources they need and to share information as quickly as possible. Additionally, I have toured the cuttingedge Brookhaven National Laboratory and met with many individuals in the private sector who also deal with the issue of homeland security. The committee’s mission is both broad and focused, technical as well as personal, and hypothetical as well as practical. We aim to greatly improve our methods of prevention and response regarding both terrorist attacks and natural disasters. There are several goals the committee would like to accomplish over the next few months, including promoting uniform twenty-first century statewide communications systems, advancing a continuous network of business and government measures, and providing incentives for those who seek to serve our nation and state in a military or volunteer capacity.

Through the hard work of the committee and our agencies, I am confident that we will create a solid entity of resources for preventing and reacting to any situations that may arise.

Vincent Leibell III is a Republican representing parts of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties in the State Senate. He is the chair of the State Senate’s Standing Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs.

CITY HALL

ISSUE FORUM:

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J U LY 2007

HOMELAND SECURITY/EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Security Must Remain Our Top Priority BY REP. PETER KING

O ONE UNDERSTANDS BETTER

than New Yorkers that on Sept. 11, 2001, our world changed forever. On that fateful day, we were forced to learn that we face a ruthless and determined enemy, one that will stop at nothing in its efforts to interrupt and destroy our way of life. Unfortunately, as time passes, it becomes easier for people—even some of our elected representatives—to forget how dangerous our enemies are and how vulnerable our nation remains. The truth is that we can never rest in our efforts to stop Al-Qaeda and protect our homeland. As ranking member of the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, I face each and every day determined to not let the American people—or Congress—forget that. Working with my fellow New Yorkers and other determined members of Congress, we have made great strides in security over the past five years. Even over the past few weeks, we have had several legislative successes important to the security of our nation and to New York City specifically. This includes ensuring terrorism tipsters are safe from frivolous lawsuits and restoring $20 million for an important anti-terror program in New York City. The case of the “Flying Imams” is already well known to many. In November

2006, six Islamic leaders were removed from a U.S. Airways flight in Minneapolis after they were observed acting suspiciously—not sitting in their assigned seats, asking for seatbelt extenders although they didn’t need them, and making anti-American statements. The men were questioned by authorities and then cleared. However, in March 2007, with the help of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the imams filed suit against the airline and—shockingly—also against the heroic “John Doe” passengers who reported their suspicious behavior. These lawsuits, however, are clearly

nothing more than cheap attempts to intimidate everyday Americans from taking action to help protect our country. That is why I introduced an amendment that will protect passengers and commuters against frivolous lawsuits such as those filed by the imams. The language was overwhelmingly adopted by the House, 304-121, as an amendment to H.R. 1401, the Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007. In a post-9/11 reality, passenger vigilance is essential to our security. Given the variety of threats we face and terrorists’ history of targeting mass transit systems, encouraging passengers to report strange behavior to authorities is really just common sense. Failing to report suspicious behavior could end up costing thousands of lives— and, while the “Flying Imams” don’t seem to understand this, the American people do. We must make certain that brave citizens who stand up and say something are given the protections they deserve. The King amendment does exactly that. This past month we scored another victory for New York. A bill providing funding for the Department of Homeland Security had slashed an important antiterror program, the Securing the Cities initiative, by $20 million. This program, already being tested in New York, places a ring of radiological and nuclear detection devices in a 45-mile radius around Manhattan. Authorities call it a “last line

of defense” against a nuclear or dirty bomb attack aimed at New York City. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly strongly advocated this program, and I was shocked to learn that the Appropriations committee caused the funding to be cut. It was a severe oversight, to say the least, as I can think of nothing more important than stopping a nuclear or radiological attack against New York. I led an effort to restore the full funding for the program the House floor, and it was adopted by a vote of 282137. Assuming the Senate follows suit, the Securing the Cities initiative will now get the funding it deserves. As we move forward in securing the homeland and continuing to fight the Global War on Terror, we must make certain our citizens receive all the necessary protections. This includes protections against a nuclear or radiological attack, as provided by the Securing the Cities initiative, as well as protections against frivolous lawsuits designed to intimidate Americans, as provided by my immunity amendment. Al-Qaeda and their sympathizers will never stop and never rest; therefore, in order to ensure the continued security of our homeland, neither can we.

Peter King is a Republican representing Nassau County in Congress. He is the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

More Surveillance Cameras Will Mean Eyewitnesses with Perfect Memories to Track Terror BY CITY COUNCIL MEMBER PETER VALLONE, JR. LONDON IN LATE June remind us once again that, as you read this, terrorists are plotting to kill you and people like you, attempting to fuel their twisted agendas with the blood of innocents. The excellent work of the British authorities has already put many of those likely responsible for this recent attack behind bars. Police there continue to run a tough and thorough investigation, which is made easier by the thousands of eyewitnesses with perfect memories they have on every corner. These witnesses are not people, however, who have incomplete or inaccurate recollections of events, but the surveillance cameras that blanket London in constant observation. With these tools, authorities were able to trace the whereabouts of several terrorists involved in the plot by watching them leave the bomb-rigged car and following them on a series of cameras in reverse succession. The end result is justice for a group of potential mass murderers. We in New York City can learn a lesson

HE EVENTS IN

from the London authorities, who also used video footage to solve the 2005 train bombings. As a primary terrorist target, New York should continue to add more surveillance cameras in its streets in order to catch terrorists, or more importantly, deter them from acting at all. Moreover, it’s not merely terrorists we hope to stop, but every brand of common criminal. In recent weeks, existing surveillance cameras have helped in the capture of a man who beat an elderly lady and another who tortured a young grad student, acts as despicable as any bombing. As chairman of the Public Safety Committee, I have pushed for more cameras in our schools, public housingdevelopments, nightclubs and potential terrorist targets. I commend Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly on their efforts to harness modern technology—both with cameras and with other real time information processing—to make New York City the safest it’s been in decades. By the end of 2008, for example, police will finish the Ring of Steel initiative, a project that will encircle lower Manhattan with surveillance cameras, ideally protecting it from future attacks. We have made encouraging

strides, but I believe this technology should be even more widespread, until we can catch terrorists wherever they may strike. Civil rights activists have raised privacy concerns about the increased surveillance of public places. They believe that the government could potentially misuse the recordings of its citizens against them, restricting their rights to peacefully assemble or protest. Even if we grant that assumption on its merits, which I do not, one would have to be more fearful of our own authorities than the terrorist or criminal organizations that threaten the lives of our residents. While conspiracy theories abound, the truth is that police ultimately monitor citizens to keep them safe, not harm them. The fact is, with the advent of cell phone cameras, the internet and digital technology, public privacy has become an increasingly rare commodity. No one is suggesting placing cameras in private homes or institutions, or anywhere with a legitimate expectation of privacy. But our world is becoming an increasingly shared public domain, and we need to use this trend to our advantage. We need to stop giving any credence to these modern day

Neros, who play their legal fiddles while others are attempting to burn our city. Simply put, more surveillance cameras will save lives. The terrorists are watching us, waiting to make their move; we need to be watching them. Editor’s Note: This piece was written prior to the shootings that injured two NYPD officers, one critically, which was captured on a surveillance tape.

Peter Vallone, Jr. is a Democrat representing parts of Queens in the New York City Council. He is chair of the Public Safety Committee.

JULY 2007

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Lion’s Share Some local politicians push back as David Dinkins becomes vocal supporter of Columbia expansion BY CARLA ZANONI 1960S, DAVID Dinkins was picketing Columbia University. Then a community activist, the former mayor was one of the most outspoken opponents of the university’s plan to evict thousands of low-income black and Hispanic tenants from Morningside Heights in an effort to make room for more housing and academic space. He and Basil Paterson (D), the former state senator, deputy mayor and secretary of state, walked arm in arm in solidarity against the school’s plans. Over the past two months, Dinkins has been making the rounds in support of the university’s proposed expansion into Manhattanville—the first phase of a potentially larger expansion into Harlem—which has included backing the proposal to use eminent domain to take public land for private use by the university. And that has left several of the area’s elected officials wishing they could turn back the clock. Although few disagree that the area ACK IN THE

INT. 599 Sponsor: David Yassky (D-Brooklyn) A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to the use of bioheat in New York City. This bill would mandate that all heating oil sold in New York City contain at least five percent biofuel. This alternative fuel is produced from plants such as palm and soy. Advocates argue that biofuel is both cheaper and less polluting than diesel fuel. “Industry usually doesn’t like mandates, but the heating oil industry has no problem with this,” Yassky said. “Here in New York, they think this is the way of the future, and they’re just as

Former Mayor David Dinkins has come out as a strong supporter of Columbia University’s proposed expansion into West Harlem, but local officials like City Council Member Robert Jackson and State Sen. Bill Perkins say he is wrong. needs to be revitalized—Hazel Dukes of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) leant her support to the proposed project in early July—there is near consensus against the lengths to which the former mayor has said Columbia should be allowed to go. “With all due respect to the mayor,” said State Sen. Bill Perkins (DManhattan), “I don’t think that eminent domain and a carte blanche opportunity for Columbia University is the appropriate way to go.” While in office, from 1990 to 1993, Dinkins tried to implement a business growth plan in West Harlem. By his admission, it failed. Shortly after leaving office, he became a professor at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. He sits on the school’s board of advisors, teaches a course called “Critical Issues in Urban Public Policy” and hosts the

excited as us to get it going.” Over the next five years, the bill will increase the required amount of biofuel in heating oil to 20 percent, the maximum that normal heating units can run on without decreases in performance. The increase will be gradual, Bills on the burner for the Council because there is currently not enough biofuel being produced to meet the demand that would be created by a mandatory 20 percent blend, Yassky said. Fines for noncompliance will be the same as those currently issued for the sale of leaded gasoline. —Joseph Meyers

ON THE

AGENDA

school’s annual David N. Dinkins Leadership and Public Policy Forum. Council Member Robert Jackson (DManhattan), who represents part of the area, disagrees strongly with Dinkins on the Columbia expansion. Jackson sits on the Council’s Land Use and Zoning and Franchise Committees, which puts him front and center in the deliberations over whether to approve or disapprove the proposed rezoning. Officials say that a deal needs to be hammered out among the university, the city and the constituents in the area. In June, after a two-week delay requested by the City Council, the Department of City Planning published the university’s application to change zoning in the area. Now begins the seven-month uniform land use review procedure, commonly known as ULURP. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (D) said that his office is organizing a public hearing about the review for after the Labor Day holiday. Stringer said that now that Dinkins has made his views known, he wishes to create a forum in which all opinions can be expressed and discussed. “Mayor Dinkins’ support of the Columbia University expansion is a very powerful endorsement, considering his history within the community and understanding of the governmental process,” he said. “What is important is that all leaders begin to have a discussion. I welcome everybody’s opinion in this discussion.” Changes not covered under the rezoning application, such as the businesses owned by people so far unwilling to sell to the university—including two moving companies, a storage provider and a gas station—may be acquired through the use of eminent domain. The university announced it will not use emi-

CITY HALL nent domain to acquire residential properties. Jordi Reyes-Montblanc, chair of the local community board, said that he respected Dinkins and was disappointed, but not surprised, by Dinkins’ support of the plan. “I would not expect him to not support the institution that he works for,” he said. “Of course, I wish he would have opted to come out for the community, but he opted to go with Columbia.” The community board is reviewing two different proposals: Columbia’s, which relies on eminent domain, and the board-sponsored plan, which does not. Reyes-Montblanc said that more than 300 people attended a public meeting in early July to look at the board’s plan, and that he heard no dissent. Another public meeting to review Columbia’s plan is scheduled for Aug. 15. After the board, Stringer and the City Planning Commission review the plan, they will make recommendations. The City Council then has the final vote. But city agencies do not have a final say in whether Columbia may use eminent domain. The members of the Public Authorities Control Board, appointed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D), Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (RRensselaer) will. Council Member Inez Dickens (DManhattan) said she hopes one day to see the revitalization of the neighborhood. According to the most recent available City Council records from late 2005, Dickens continues to draw a salary as president of her family’s real estate company in Harlem. She owns four buildings in that area. Dickens declined to comment further for this article. But when asked about Dinkins’ endorsement of eminent domain, days after Dinkins first publicly endorsed Columbia’s plan, she said that she did not believe Dinkins could endorse such an idea without first having many questions answered. “I have questions,” she said. “Council Member Jackson has questions. Congressman Rangel has questions. I think we all recognize that this particular area of Harlem is devastated, but what does that mean to the people who reside there and have businesses there?” Rangel was unavailable for comment. When it comes down to who decides after all the questions have been answered, Jackson said the power belongs to those who hold office. “Here all of the elected local and state elected officials are opposed to eminent domain, and here our esteemed mayor is in support,” Jackson said. “What does that tell you? We respect him, but he is out of office, and we are in.” czanoni@manhattanmedia.com

CITY HALL

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J U LY 2007

programs to 60 percent of a median family income of $31,000, down from the current 80 percent limit. Krueger said she believes that many of her Democratic colleagues were swayed by the expansion of the exclusion zones in voting for the final bill. She also argued that time provided for consideration was a major issue. “Many of my colleagues did not review and understand the details of the bill,” she said. “I am not sure I understand the whole bill.” The debate over the 421a reform bill comes in the wake of an increase in affordable housing activism in the city. In late May, 7,000 activists from across the city formed a human chain around Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village at a kick-off event for the New York Is Our Home Campaign, which is being cosponsored by several housing groups, as well as the Central Labor Council and the Working Families Party. During the rally, activists unveiled their legislative agenda for both City Hall and Albany. According to Julie Miles, the group’s campaign director, the agenda includes extending rent regulations to all Mitchell-Lama and Section 8 buildings, a moratorium on buyouts of Mitchell-Lama apartAssembly member Richard ments, the end of vacanGottfried joined affordable cy decontrol, restructurhousing advocates at a May ing the state housing rally in Stuyvesant Town. division, strengthening rent law enforcement, increased state support for the New York City Housing (NYCHA) Authority and capping the rental payments of people with AIDS to 30 percent of their income. Miles said the top priority is getting the ported the bill, it did not approach Golden state to increase shelter payments to about sponsoring the legislation. Slattery said the trade group favors cre- NYCHA to the level of payments for priating more affordable housing, but vate developers. She said that no other ralstressed that the development of afford- lies are planned currently, but the coalition able middle income housing should not is meeting regularly to plan out strategy. The redevelopment of the Hudson preclude the development of market rate Yards is becoming another battleground housing. “The city needs housing, and the city in the affordable housing wars, with needs affordable housing,” he said. “You neighborhood activists making the issue can’t build affordable housing without one of the top three they are working on. building housing. We need to build hous- Current plans for the Yards call for 20ing at market rate, and we need to find percent of all rental units to be set aside creative ways to link market rate housing for affordable housing for a fixed period, which Far West Side residents have with affordable housing.” Some of Krueger’s Democratic col- called too low. In northern Queens, at the site of the leagues said that while they find the bill to be flawed, they are happy with many of Willets Point redevelopment zone, a the provisions, specifically the expansion coalition of neighborhood groups is planof the exclusion zones for where afford- ning a summer long dialogue to develop strategy for increasing the amount of able housing can now be built. State Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D- affordable housing in the area. The city’s affordable housing campaign Manhattan/Bronx) said his district will benefit, with more development projects is not limited to Manhattan-based groups. coming online and a minimum of 20 per- Last month, an affordable housing group cent being earmarked as affordable hous- from Buffalo sponsored a fundraiser at ing. In addition, he noted that he was able Local 1099’s conference space to raise to get Golden to go on the record that new money for several projects on that city’s condominiums and co-ops would need to West Side. Buffalo affordable housing set aside 20 percent of their units as activists said the fundraiser was part of a new statewide approach to the issue. affordable. Schneiderman also endorsed a portion johncelock@aol.com of the legislation, which lowered the qualDirect letters to the editor to ification threshold for affordable housing cityhall@manhattanmedia.com.

Housing Debates Intensifies in Albany Krueger says trade group had too large a role in drafting legislation BY JOHN R.D. CELOCK

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waning minutes of the state legislative session last month to reform the state’s 421a tax abatement and affordable housing law was just the latest move in a growing round of housing activism. The law, passed by both the Assembly and Senate, would replace a recently passed city law on the subject. The bill extends the tax abatement program, expands the exclusion zones for affordable housing construction and grants Forest City Ratner a controversial $170 million tax break for the Atlantic Yards project. The bill has not yet been presented to Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) for consideration, and a spokeswoman for Spitzer said the governor—who is himself heir to a real estate fortune—has not even begun to consider it. 421a was the second-to-last bill the Senate took up before the end of session, passed with only two dissenting votes, State Sens. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) and Frank Padavan (R-Queens). Krueger has been an outspoken opponent of the passed bill, saying that it passed because the Republican Senate majority was trying to placate the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY),

which endorsed the bill. “There were too many secret deals and giveaways to real estate in there,” Krueger explained later. Heading into the session’s final days, several 421a bills were pending in Albany, including one sponsored by Krueger and one sponsored by Assembly Member Vito Lopez (D-Brooklyn) and Padavan. These were in addition to the successful bill sponsored by Sen. Martin Golden (RBrooklyn). Krueger claimed that REBNY approached Golden with the final bill, including the Atlantic Yards provision, and asked him to sponsor the bill. REBNY has been a large financial booster of the Senate Republican conference. Golden has long been a supporter of the Atlantic Yards project. Golden’s chief of staff, Jerry Kassar, said his boss introduced the measure in order to assist developers with projects currently pending. Kassar said the bill would help developers stay within the current 421a requirements. Kossar said Lopez had approached Golden to sponsor the bill in the Senate. Kossar denied Krueger’s charge that REBNY wrote the bill for Golden. “REBNY likes these changes, but it’s more than them,” he said. Mike Slattery, REBNY senior vice president, said that while the trade group sup-

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A Downtown Grows in Staten Island Legislators and community groups look to revamp the North Shore BY DAN RIVOLI STATEN ISLAND FERRY departs from St. George, sailing toward Manhattan, Kevin Barry suggests examining the New Jersey highrises to see how the right kind of legislation can turn around a neighborhood. “That’s political leadership,” said Barry, the vice chairman of the Downtown Staten Island Council (DSIC). To accomplish this, Staten Island legislators are working with community groups like the DSIC to craft legislation which he thinks would help the area reach its potential as the epicenter of Staten Island. Their goal is to mold the North Shore in the image of similar waterfront land in Hoboken and Long Island City, or, according to the DSIC website, the next Williamsburg or Park Slope. Barry wants to see St. George and the rest of the North Shore become a cultural and economic hub that will make people want to move to the borough. Though Staten Island is the fastest-growing county in the state, young adults are fleeing the island, according to a report by the Center for an Urban Future. That report attributes the low number

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By creating businesses along the waterfront, advocates hope tourists will have a reason to come to Staten Island. The ferry attracts thousands of tourists each year for the clear views of the Statue of Liberty. Yet once the ferry docks, they leave the boat and walk back into the terminal to catch a ferry straight back to Local legislators argue that extending service on Manhattan. the Staten Island ferry and creating new public Signs for Staten transportation options may be the key to their Island’s cultural instiefforts to bring new development to the borough. tutions, museums and of people ages 18 to 35 to the island’s Sept. 11 memorials are located in front of poor transportation and dearth of ameni- the bus terminals, far from tourists’ eyes. Assembly Member Matthew Titone ties. “There just isn’t a vibrant nightlife,” (D-Staten Island), who sits on the said Richard Flanagan, associate profes- Tourism, Arts and Sports Development sor of political science at the College of Committee, laments this lack. “Something so basic as that needs to Staten Island. To counter this, DSIC and Staten be addressed,” he said. The development of new businesses Island's Community Board 1 are requesting that developers include commercial along the waterfront will be in tandem with the construction of new housing space in the first floor of new buildings.

Secession Movement, Though Largely Dead, Shows Faint Pulse hese days, Staten Island lawmakers are pushing for legislation to further integrate the North Shore into the Big Apple. But 12 years ago, some of their predecessors were trying for just the opposite. The secession movement reached a high point in a 1993 referendum in the borough. Although 65 percent voted in favor of secession, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) refused to move the bill to the floor. Not much was heard about the movement for over a decade. But when one of its leaders, State Sen. John Marchi (R), retired last year, the issue was raised again in the race to succeed him. Andrew Lanza and Robert Helbock, Marchi’s former counsel, vied for the GOP nomination in the race. In a debate, Lanza addressed secession. “I think the best way to secure our future is to put Staten Islanders firmly in control of their own destiny, so I think it's a conversation that needs to be had, absolutely,” he said at the time. Lanza, who won the race, said that with two successive

Republican mayors paying close attention to the borough, the feelings of being overlooked that prompted much of the secession talk have dissipated. “That took some of the wind out of the sails,” Lanza said recently of the secession movement. But he noted that though the issue is dormant for now, secession could come up again, depending on what happens in the next mayoral election. “All the dynamics that allowed Staten Island to be ignored could return overnight,” he said. Angst from decades of neglect by city politicians came to a head when the New York City Board of Estimate dissolved in 1989. The body, which controlled budgets and land use decisions, was ruled unconstitutional. Rather than having one out of five borough presidents on the Board, the borough got just three seats in a new, 51-member City Council. Shortly after, Marchi proposed legislation to create a secession commission, pending the approval of the Staten Island voters. The commission reported that secession would be economically viable, and

Marchi pushed a referendum onto the 1993 ballot. “It became a powerful social movement because [Marchi] took it on,” said Richard Flanagan, associate professor of political science at the College of Staten Island and the author of a case study on the secession movement. Since the closing of the Fresh Kills landfill, recent talks of secession have stemmed from a new set of problems, like lack of services from the Metropolitan Transit Authority and the Health and Hospital Corporation, which funds public emergency rooms in every other borough. “It’s always a struggle, always a battle, to get a seat at the table,” Lanza said. Marchi declined comment on the secession movement’s past and possible future. Flanagan, however, argued that the movement might have retired along with Marchi. “Secession was just such an incredibly draining social movement,” Flanagan said. “There’s no politician like Marchi to spearhead it.” —DR drivoli@manhattanmedia.com

projects, including luxury condominiums. The biggest developer, Leib Puretz, caters to those who can afford to buy luxury apartments at market rate. Council Member Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island) said that the amount of affordable housing should be increased. However, he did not push for the North Shore development to be included in a City Council bill that will give tax abatements to developers who construct buildings with one affordable unit in five. However, McMahon did unsuccessfully lobby for a city study to analyze the effect of using tax abatements in the area. “You want economic growth,” McMahon said. “At the same time, you don’t want to displace the early pioneers and families.” Unlike certain Long Island City condominiums, which offer some affordable housing, those in the North Shore will not be required to offer apartments below the market rate. The Assembly passed a bill similar to the one which passed the City Council on the last day of its regular session. Titone worked with that bill’s sponsor, Assembly Member Vito Lopez (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the Housing Committee, to include St. George in the legislation. But McMahon insists that transportation remains the biggest problem. Long Island City is a six-minute train ride from midtown Manhattan (when trains are running regularly). Staten Island is a 25minute ferry ride to the Financial District. The ferry is the main public transportation link to the rest of the city, which McMahon believes is less than ideal. “If people wonder why Jersey City and Hoboken—even, now, Newark—experienced such a strong renaissance,” McMahon said, the answer in his opinion is that those places have a “critical transit link to the rest of the area.” In 2005, the City Council passed a McMahon-sponsored bill that would ensure around-the-clock half-hour ferry service. Currently, there is an hour-long wait between departures on weekend evenings. Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Unaff.) vetoed this bill, citing cost issues. A compromise measure, however, set additional ferry departures during rush hours and weekend mornings. Jonathan Bowles, director of the Center for an Urban Future, said that although talk of a North Shore renaissance has been buzzing for years, the recent joint efforts among developers and legislators make him optimistic about the future of the North Shore. “So many Staten Islanders have heard this before,” he said. “This time it’s different.” drivoli@manhattanmedia.com

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Commissioner Data BY CARLA ZANONI T THIS YEAR’S COMMENCEMENT

ceremony for graduates of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, students heard from Dr. Thomas Frieden, the recipient of the school’s 2007 Dean’s Distinguished Service Award. A graduate of the school himself, Frieden is New York City’s commissioner of public health. He greeted the group with one joke—a self-effacing tale of being admitted to the school at a time when standards were much lower. Then he turned strictly to business. “Live the data,” he said. “Breathe the data. Understand the data. Once you immerse yourself in the data, you succeed in public health.” Frieden, a native New Yorker, has climbed the ranks of the health department since he graduated in 1986. He began working for the Department of Health in 1990 as a CDC Epidemiologic Intelligence Service Officer, became the director of the Bureau of Tuberculosis Control and later went on to serve for six years as assistant health commissioner, from 1992 to 1996. After the city saw an 80 percent drop in the rate of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, Frieden decided to take his research and skills to create a similar program in India. The multilingual commissioner—he is fluent in Spanish and conversant in French and Hindi—returned to New York in 2002 after receiving a call from Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Unaff.) asking him to join his administration. Frieden said he would only come if the mayor was

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serious about establishing a smoking ban. Bloomberg assured Frieden he was. “Most of the things that Tom has suggested that have been a little bit out of the box, Bloomberg has agreed with,” said Allen Rosenfield, dean of the Mailman School and one of many people who recommended Frieden to Bloomberg. Through a mixture of technological advances and support from a mayor who is a great supporter of public health initiatives—Bloomberg’s alma mater, the Johns Hopkins University, has its school of public health named after him—Frieden has risen as more than a leader in the field. Jeremiah Barondess, president emeritus of the nonprofit and non-partisan research and advocacy group, the New York Academy of Medicine said that Frieden’s unique approach to public health has been enormously effective. “He understands how to get the science off the ground and implement it in pragmatic ways,” he said. “I think Thomas Frieden’s activities will be taught for years to come.” Barondess added that although previous commissioners have been effective in their own right, the confluence of having a forward-thinking health commissioner and public health-minded mayor has given the department an advantage. “For a commissioner of health to have a mayor who’s got the message in advance and is as effective as this mayor is, it’s been an enormous boost,” Barondess said. “I don’t know of any other commissioners who have had that benefit.” Through both popular and unpopular

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

Thomas Frieden brushes aside critics who say he has created a nanny state. And he is not done yet.

Thomas Frieden scoffed at the idea that his initiatives have gone too far, saying that he has great plans for the last two and one half years left of his term. means, Frieden’s health campaigns have railed against a host of contributing factors thought to increase the chances of heart disease, diabetes, asthma and cancer. In doing so, Frieden has set himself apart from previous health commissioners by making chronic diseases a priority over infectious disease. Neal Cohen served as health commissioner during Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s (R) administration. Though he said that Giuliani offered him and his department a great deal of help during his tenure, he concedes that Bloomberg’s term has brought about a different kind of attention to the public health field. “Mayor Giuliani was very supportive,” he said, “but his health care initiatives didn’t grab as much attention as, say, his crime programs.” In bringing attention to issues of health care and prevention, Frieden has been able to incorporate his different approach, marking a dramatic change in the way the health department goes about serving New Yorkers. Cohen said that in addition

Which Council Member Would Make the Best TV Judge?

A decade ago, former Mayor Ed Koch (D) replaced Joseph Wapner as the judge of the People’s Court for two seasons but the current City Council members seem skeptical that any of their colleagues could ever follow Koch in that particular part of his career. Simcha “We have a dry lot here,” said Felder Council Member Eric Gioia (DQueens), before becoming the

eleventh person to cast his vote for the ever-popular Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn). Tied for second place were two very different personalities, Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) and G. Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx). Though Koppell served a year as state attorney general, Barron was the one James Sanders (DQueens) thought would be tougher on the television bench.

to having the benefit of a mayor who is primed toward tackling health issues, he has the added benefit of technological advances that have made tracking health trends more in depth and exhaustive. “He has information available through computerization and databases that covers large cohorts of neighborhoods,” Cohen said, remarking that these technological developments only came about at the end of his own tenure. “He is a 21st century commissioner.” Not everyone is happy with the government’s use of such technology, with some, like Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan), worried over the possible infringements on civil liberties, and others insisting that Frieden and Bloomberg have crossed the line into creating a “nanny state.” Frieden scoffed at the idea that his initiatives have gone too far, saying that he has great plans for the last two and one half years left of his term. “Your right to swing your fist stops where my face begins,” he said. “Most people want to do good. You just have to make sure that what you’re doing achieves the goal.” When asked what might come after the current goals, and if he would ever consider a run for politics or if he foresaw a stint as, say, surgeon general for a President Bloomberg, Frieden sidestepped the question. “We have another two and a half years before that time comes,” he said. “I want to focus on this for now before thinking of where to go next.” But back in May, at that graduation ceremony, Frieden may have dropped a hint about where he thinks his job as commissioner might eventually lead him. “Public health, like politics,” he said, “is the art of the possible.” czanoni@manhattanmedia.com

Council members who received more than one vote Simcha Felder

“Don’t go before Charles Barron 4 him,” he said. “That’s G. Oliver Koppell 4 all I could say.” Alan Gerson (D- Lewis Fidler 3 Manhattan) was the Dominic Recchia 3 only person who 2 thought the gavel Helen Foster should go to Letitia James 2 Melinda Katz (DMichael McMahon 2 Queens). 2 “She’s a good James Oddo taskmaster, but very Diana Reyna 2 fair,” he said. 9 But some of the Did not vote warmest words came for Dominic Recchia, who tied fellow Brooklyn Democrat Lewis Fidler with three votes. “He’s tough, compassionate, firm and he has a sense of humor,” said Helen Sears (D-Queens). Larry Seabrook (D-Bronx) agreed. “He has the right personality,” he said. “I'd like to practice before him.”

JULY 2007

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Special Election Reform Faces More Delays BY DAN RIVOLI

ESPITE REPEATED CALLS FOR

action, a bill to reform the special election process for seats in the Legislature remains stalled. Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), the sponsor of the Assembly version, promised to make election reform a top priority when she won her special election to succeed Scott Stringer (D), who resigned after being elected Manhattan borough president. Rosenthal’s bill would end closed party nominations, in which candidates are selected by local members of their county committees, the process by which Rosenthal was selected. Backed by Stringer and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (DManhattan/Brooklyn), Rosenthal won the

seats in a special election. With the rash of special elections for Legislature seats this year—six have already occurred, with a seventh for the seat formerly held by Paul Tonko scheduled for July 31—the good government group Citizens Union released a report in April that calls for open primaries to replace closed party nominations. “It would be far preferable to a closeddoor party nominee,” said Dick Dadey, Citizens Union’s executive director. “At least you give party voters a say.” As another alternative, Dadey suggested the Legislature adopt the City Council’s process for filling vacated seats, which employs nonpartisan elections. Rosenthal’s bill would require candidates to be nominated through an open primary. Third party candidates would

Griffo postulated that some of his colleagues might simply be against special education reform in general. “Some of it is tradition,” he said. Democratic nomination in county committee, all but ensuring victory in her heavily Democratic Upper West Side district. Along with Rosenthal, almost a third of current state legislators first won their

need only 1,000 signatures to run for State Senate, and 500 to run for Assembly. Under current election law, which Rosenthal called too onerous, third party candidates for the State Senate and

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

Bill remains in committee, with no more action likely until 2008 at earliest

Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal Assembly need 3,000 and 1,500 signatures, respectively. Rosenthal said her proposal would be the most open way possible to fill seats. “This is a rather novel idea,” she said. The bill was referred to the State Senate Elections Committee for review. Despite much voiced support among legislators, however, the bill has yet to receive a hearing. “Thousands of bills are sent to committees. Not all are voted on,” Rosenthal argued. State Sen. Joseph Griffo (RLewis/Oneida), the chair of the elections committee and cosponsor of the Senate version of the bill, said there was not

enough support to move the bill out of committee. He could not remember who opposed the bill or why. Griffo speculated that the reason might have been opposition to creating open primaries, since these would lenghthen the period between the day a seat opens and the day it is filled by special election, thus extending the time the district in question would be without representation. Griffo postulated that some of his colleagues might simply be against special election reform in general. “Some of it is tradition,” he said. Ryan Nobles, Griffo’s communications director, predicted that there is a good chance the bill will pass in the 2008 legislative session. The bill, he said, is “still in the process of being discussed by the senators on the committee.” Griffo said between now and next year he plans to continue soliciting support for the special election bill, along with other election reforms he is backing—which include term limits and special elections for vacated statewide seats. He said he expected these all to be uphill battles. “Sometimes,” he said, “change is difficult.” drivoli@manhattanmedia.com

In Race for Racing Contract, No Finish Line in Sight BY ADAM PINCUS OV.

ELIOT SPITZER (D) threw a wrench into the complex process to determine who will operate state horse racing tracks, including Belmont Park, Aqueduct and Saratoga, when he suggested days after the end of the regular session in Albany that the Queens track could be closed. The franchise issue was one of several high-profile items that stalled in Albany, along with Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (Unaff.) congestion pricing plan. Several members of the Legislature said they did not expect the issue to be revisited during the anticipated special summer session, although a Spitzer spokesman said the administration was working on it daily. Four bidders have submitted proposals to take over the 20-year franchise on Jan. 1, along with the right to develop highly profitable video lottery terminals as part of a drawn-out process that began under former Gov. George Pataki (R). The groups that submitted the multi-billion dollar plans are New York Racing Association (NYRA), a nonprofit that has run the tracks for 52 years and is now more than $300 million in debt; Empire Racing Associates LLC, made up of New York breeders; Excelsior Racing Associates

LLC, a consortium backed by real estate and gaming heavyweights; and Capital Play Inc., a group comprised of Australian horse racing executives and American gaming and real estate companies. Spitzer has said he may recommend significant changes to the original concept, such as splitting the racing contract from the video lottery terminals. He indicated that he might consider closing Aqueduct altogether, which some legislators believe would require a renewed bidding process. A spokesman for the governor, Paul Larrabee, said Spitzer was not using a formal bidding process, but examining which “entity would provide the state with the best position to advance the interest of racing and now gaming, because now gaming is also a significant component of the equation. And what strengths they bring to a partnership with the state, not necessarily who can offer the most lucrative package,” he said. The video lottery terminals were approved for Aqueduct as a way to support horse racing, but were never installed. Some of the franchise proposals included opening video gaming in Belmont, as well. Some estimate that Aqueduct’s 192acre parcel in South Ozone Park, near John F. Kennedy Airport, could fetch $1

billion if fully developed without horseracing. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer), local legislators and residents spoke out against closing the track, as did some other Assembly Democrats. The selection process began in 2005, when Pataki formed the Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing. This past February, the committee recommended that Excelsior Racing Associates be awarded the contract. Spitzer ignored the committee’s suggestion. A week later, he named his own Franchise Review Panel, chaired by his special counsel, Richard Rifkin. With the changed parameters, the process would likely have to start yet again, said State Sen. John Sabini (DQueens), who sat on the panel as a nonvoting member. “All the bids are null and void based on a reasonable analysis, because the bids were based on something that does not exist now,” he said, referring to the scope of the original request for proposal, which did not include the possibility of splitting the VLTs from racing or of having no racing at Aqueduct. The office of Queens Borough President Helen Marshall (D) would prefer to see horse racing supported by video gaming at the site. But if the prop-

erty were to be developed, said Marshall chief of staff Alexandra Rosa, the office opposes putting high-rise apartment buildings on the land. “Spitzer said it could fetch up to $1 billion,” Rosa said. “Perhaps at its highest use. But highest is not necessarily the best use.” A state inspector general’s report found problems with all four bidding entities through their ties to companies that facilitate betting from other states or nations. The report also cited individual concerns about investors with criminal backgrounds, political ties or pending civil litigation against them. The situation may remain unresolved until the end of the year, though the NYRA franchise expires Dec. 31. In preparation for this possibility, the State Senate passed a bill at the end of the spring session that would extend the NYRA contract for one year. A similar bill is in the Assembly’s Committee on Racing and Wagering. And that, said committee chair J. Gary Pretlow (D-Yonkers), is where the bill is likely to remain for the time being. “We have no intention of passing it unless we have to.” pincus_a@yahoo.com Direct letters to the editor to cityhall@manhattanmedia.com.

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Managing Changes in a Union of Managers As Bloomberg and Klein reorganize the school system again, the CSA tries to keep up while reorganizing itself BY DAVID FREEDLANDER YORK CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS will reopen their doors in the fall in the midst of another major restructuring of how the 1.1 million in the system are educated. This latest reorganization of the Department of Education (DOE) is the third in five years and represents further efforts by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (Unaff.) administration to transform what it views as a bloated municipal bureaucracy into something more closely resembling the efficient corporate environment that Bloomberg and his education chancellor, Joel Klein, envision. This most recent restructuring gave unprecedented power to the city’s more than 1,400 principals, including wide discretion over spending, staffing and school support. These changes to school leadership structure have come at a time when the Council of School Administrators (CSA)—the AFL-CIO union for principals, assistant principals, and supervisors—is facing serious changes of its own. In February, Ernest Logan, a former principal of I.S. 55 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, became the first AfricanAmerican president of the CSA. Two months later, in April, Klein and

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Bloomberg reached an agreement on a new three-year contract with the union, ending four years of the city’s principals working without a contract. The new agreement, which was supported by 93 percent of the CSA’s members, gave principals a 23 percent pay increase over seven years and $25,000 bonuses to highly regarded veteran administrators who agree to work in some of the city’s most troubled schools. The contract put to rest an ugly period in the history of the union, one during which its members were in open revolt against then-president Jill Levy for her “ineffectiveness” and for being “out-of-touch” with members, topics addressed in a 2006 open letter to Levy signed by 31 principals. Logan could not return calls for comment, as he was vacationing on a cruise prior to the start of the school year. Reached via email, he expressed hope that the new contract would herald an era of cooperation between the districts after an acrimonious period of negotiation. “[Our members] won’t shy away from the new expectations and new responsibilities as long as they are properly supported,” he wrote. “We understand the global perspective of operating schools

IONS

I Remember Rudy When... Memories of the GOP presidential front-runner before he went national

hen U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani announced charges in a $1.65 billion heroin-smuggling scheme in 1984, no effort was spared in publicizing it: Attorney General William French Smith and FBI Director William Webster came to New York for the news conference. But the case, which charged that pizzeria owners served as a conduit for the Sicilian Mafia’s narcotics trafficking, was still missing something as a news story. The late D. J. Saunders, the savvy and intrepid Daily News reporter assigned to the federal court in Manhattan at the time, figured it out in back of the courthouse press room after the news conference: It needed a nickname. Just then, Giuliani stopped by the press room and Saunders suggested that the case should be dubbed the “Pizza Connection.” Giuliani laughed and said he liked it. And why not? It piggybacked on the fame of the case depicted in the Oscar-winning film “The French Connection.” But Saunders had his scruples; he was not one to make up the news. “No,” Saunders insisted. “You’ve got to say it.” “Pizza Connection,” Giuliani said. And thus it was possible for reporters to write that the case had been so dubbed by prosecutors. —Paul Moses Paul Moses is professor of journalism at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. In 1984, he covered the federal court beat for the Associated Press. He was City Hall bureau chief for Newsday from 1995 to 1997 and later supervised the paper’s coverage of the Giuliani administration as city editor.

better than anyone. There’s room for improvement in that regard, but the lines of communication are open and we are working together with the DOE on a number of fronts.” Each district’s principal is charged with deciding on a school support organization to provide teacher training and curriculum development. In May, the DOE announced that more than a third of the principals had decided to become full stewards of their individual schools, freeing them from outside oversight, while half decided to work with organizations headed by former superintendents from the old regional system. The rest, at Klein’s urging, linked with outside non-profit agencies and educational institutions. The CSA has responded to these newfound needs of its members by adding more professional development and training workshops. They also have Education Leadership centers in all five boroughs where CSA members can attend workshops and seminars. The union’s Executive Leadership Institute, a professional development program for school leaders, was filled to capacity in July, forcing organizers to turn interested principals away, Logan noted. Overshadowed by the far larger United Federation of Teachers, the 6,000 member CSA is a union of managers rather than laborors. In the mayor’s streamlined conception of education reform, he frequently referred to the principals as the “line managers” of the system, a term that irked many school leaders. “The mayor always seemed to think that principals shouldn’t be in a union,” said Clara Hemphill, author of New York City’s Best Public High Schools. “I think the principals saw that as union-busting, and that left a lot of bad blood for a really long time.” Without a union’s traditional power to stop work and without much political leverage, the CSA has been forced to pick its battles. “They are not the major players they once were,” said Bruce McIver, the commissioner of labor relations under Mayor Ed Koch (D). “Those kind of hybrid organizations are not terribly effective on either side of their power,” he continued. “They have to act as more of a service organization than like a traditional union. They need to pay less attention to the squeaky wheels and more time focused on the needs of the 90 percent of people who do a good job. They should try to be a union that enables people who want to work well, and not for people who need a union to air their grievances.” Others though see the union’s hybridization as a model for the future of the labor movement. “The CSA represents people who are responsible for the success of the organ-

CSA President Ernest Logan negotiated a new contract between the city and his union in April, but changing demographics in the hybrid union’s membership is just one area of challenge that still lies ahead. ization they run,” said Mike Merrill, dean of the Harry Van Arsdale Jr. Center for Labor Studies. “The organization gets to say what its members need to be successful, since they will be blamed for their failures, and that’s a kind of responsibility and accountability that they are aware of, and it’s one that more and more rank and file union members in various kinds of trades are seeking.” The union is also facing profound demographic changes in its membership, as fewer and fewer principals are lifers like Logan who work their way up through the system. More than 70 percent of the current principals have been in their posts for less than five years. Nearly 15 percent are under the age of 35. “Retaining quality people is a major goal, and we will be looking at new and creative ways to do that,” Logan explained. “We have a lot of young, vibrant professionals, and we need to invest in their futures.” Many educational experts feel that the linchpin of the Bloomberg administration’s reorganization efforts will rest on this new wave of young, reform-minded school leaders. “Do young people have the ability to sustain themselves in such a highly responsible kind of position or will they be with us for five or six years and then move on?” asked Levy, Logan’s predecessor, now the national head of the principals’ union. “I have a sense they are committed to the job, but a sense they may burn out pretty quickly.” davidfreedlander@gmail.com Direct letters to the editor to cityhall@manhattanmedia.com.

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IN THE CHAIR

Getting Books Back on the Books BY ELIZABETH KRAUSHAR GENTILE LIKES TO SHOW off the toy library he has set up in his office. He jumps out of his seat to point out the spectacled woman wagging her finger whom he calls “my librarian.” He gets just as excited discussing the provisions in the new city budget which guarantee funding to libraries to keep them open for longer hours. To the Brooklyn Democrat, being chair of the Libraries subcommittee is more than just a role. “This is a mission for the three library systems to bring that kind of hope and opportunity and equality to everybody in the five boroughs,” he said. Mission accomplished. Last year, Speaker Christine Quinn (DManhattan) created the Libraries subcommittee and made Gentile the chair to champion increased funding for branches across the city. The final budget this year included an additional $42.7 million for libraries, pumping cash into various programs and increasing library hours, which will keep many open six days a week. Gentile credits the success to the tax rev-

INCENT

enues generated by hot times on Wall Street and Quinn’s commitment to the cause. There are three library systems in New York: the Queens Borough Public Library, the New York Public Library and the Brooklyn Public Library. Executive budget cuts in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks forced libraries to pare down career services, adult literacy programs and after-school programs. Queens alone lost over $2 million annually, funds that could have acquired over one million new books, though circulation continued to climb. “Library demand was particularly high in post-9/11 times, and our English as a Second Language program needed to be expanded, but we couldn’t do it,” said Joanne King, a spokesperson for the Queens Borough system. Libraries were also forced to reduce technology maintenance and cut back jobs. Even during the Great Depression, Gentile argued, city libraries were open six, if not seven, days per week. Library hours were reduced to only two days a week for many branches during the worst of the early ’90s fiscal crisis. But by 1993, all branches were back to

being open at least five days a week. Last year, Gentile and the Committee on Cultural Affairs made an agreement with the administration to baseline library funding. Now that the committee has addressed the finances, Gentile said its next move is to streamline the capital construction process. As it stands, library construction can take six to eight years to complete, since other city construction projects always get priority. Gentile sees his work on the committee as a natural extension of his community activist background, working with people on a more personal level than he did during his three terms in the State Senate, from 1997 to 2002. He lost a reelection bid to Martin Golden, but then won a special election for Golden’s vacated City Council seat in early 2003. He said he would not dismiss an eventual rematch against Golden. But his recent success with his committee—and the recognition that followed—may give him an added advantage for his future plans at City Hall. He plans to run for reelection in 2009. If he wins, he will be one of the new

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

Gentile scores victory as Libraries subcommittee chair, and starts looking to new battles ahead

Getting more funding for the city’s three public library systems is no game to Vincent Gentile, shown with his toy library set. Council’s senior members. Add in a close relationship with the term-limited Quinn, and Gentile may be in a position to run for speaker himself. “If the circumstances are right and the support is there,” Gentile said, “then certainly I will think about putting a campaign together at that point.” ekraushar@manhattanmedia.com

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VER THE PAST FIVE YEARS, THE AMOUNT OF MONEY spent on lobbying in the city and state has nearly doubled. At the same time, the profession has come increasingly under fire, with good government groups and reform-minded politicians looking to cut back the amount of money lobbyists can spend wooing elected officials and donating to their campaigns. Jack Abramoff’s shadow hangs lobbyists from Washington to New York to Albany, and the whole profession seems to feel some of its weight. That has not slowed business in New York City, where more than $44 million dollars was spent lobbying officials last year. Almost half this money went through the city’s top 10 firms for 2006, as calculated by the office of the city clerk. Small and medium (none of them large), the firms have different approaches to the job. To most, lobbying is integral to other work the firms do, from political consulting to fundraising to public relations. To many, the business is an extension of work they did on the public payroll, as elected officials or high-placed staffers in the top levels of government. To some, it is a family affair, spanning generations and bloodlines. To all, theirs is a proud profession which is often misunderstood. City Hall spoke with eight of the city’s top 10 firms (the Law Office of Claudia Wagner and Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel declined to participate) to get their takes on the business, why they believe they have enjoyed their success and which song each would propose as a theme.

Articles by James Caldwell Photos by Andrew Schwartz

Tracking the Rankings: This Year's Top 10 Over Time

Firm Percentages of Total City Lobbying Revenue

KASIRER CONSULTING BOLTON ST. JOHNS, INC.

GREENBURG TRAURIG LLP

6.8%

LAW OFFICES OF CLAUDIA WAGNER

5.6%

KRAMER LEVIN NAFTALIS & FRANKEL LLP CONSTANTINOPLE CONSULTING

5.4%

RANKING

PARKSIDE GROUP

6 4 2

CONNELLY MCLAUGHLIN GETO & DE MILLY, INC.

5.1%

4.9%

55.4%

4.2% 3.7%

YOSWEIN NEW YORK, INC

2001

2002

2003

200,000,000

2004

2005

Dollars Spent on Lobbying City and State Officials

150,000,000 100,000,000

3.2% 3.0%

50,000,000

City

2.7%

2006

State 2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

CITY HALL

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Kasirer Consulting

(L-R): Patrick Jenkins, Suri Kasirer and Julie Greenberg

TOP 10 CLIENTS FOR 2006: Care Plus Silverite Construction Company, Inc. T-Mobile, Inc. US Power Generating Co. ELAD Properties SCAN NBC Universal Safe Horizon Cemusa, Inc. American Cancer Society

TOTAL BILLING FOR 2006: $3,020,645.79

Proposed firm theme song: “We Can Work It Out” by the Beatles

ASIRER CONSULTING has been the top-ranked city lobbying firm in New York City two years running. Despite that distinction, founder Suri Kasirer and the firm have avoided the limelight, preferring instead to keep the focus on their clients. “We believe that it’s all about the clients,” she said. “This is unusual, for us to be agreeing to a story about us.” In the ten years since 1997, when she founded Kasirer Consulting, Kasirer, who worked on Gov. Mario Cuomo’s 1994 reelection campaign, has grown the firm to include such clients as television networks ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as cellular titan T-Mobile. The firm also represents several museums, the American Cancer Institute and Volunteers of America. The eclectic lists reflected the firm’s selectivity, Kasirer said. “We’re very selective in who we decide to represent,” she said. “We’re also very, very careful about not taking on conflicts.” Citywide, lobbying revenues topped $44 million in 2006, up from just over $36 million in 2005, and new lobbying firms are constantly emerging. Kasirer attributed the rapid increase to three factors—an increase in reporting by lobbyists, City Council term limits and the city’s continuing real estate boom. The latter, she said, is particularly fueling the growth and demand for lobbyists. “Folks in the real estate community are heavy users of people in our business,” she said. With an increasingly crowded lobbying field in the city, Kasirer attributed the firm’s success to hard work and what she sees as an atypical approach to lobbying. “For us, it’s all about strategy,” she said. “I guess there are people who sell their services where it’s all about relationships, but for us I think it’s all about strategy.”

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Bolton St. Johns

Back row (L-R): Bill Mc Carthy, Norman Adler, Giorgio DeRosa, Mel Miller and John Wright Front Row (L-R): Ed Draves LaShaun Lesley and Jay Adolf

TOP 10 CLIENTS FOR 2006: The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York Siemens Corporation Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. VISY Paper, Inc. AMDEC Foundation, Inc. Greater New York Hospital Association Continuing Care Leadership Coalition Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center NYS Pipe Trades Association Committee for Taxi Safety

HINKING OF lobbying in New York City is almost impossible without thinking of Norman Adler and Bolton St. Johns. Once the deputy campaign manager for former Gov. Mario Cuomo (D) and speechwriter for former New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Adler has been at the center of city and statewide lobbying since founding Bolton St. Johns in 1988. Today, the firm employs ten full time lobbyists and maintains offices in Albany and Washington, in addition to New York City. With a roster of nearly 50 clients, the firm specializes in labor unions, health care and large corporations. It also does work for several Fortune 500 companies, which has put the firm among the top highest earners in the city for the past six years. Looking back, Adler said there was one thing he could not have predicted when he started the firm. $2,462,786.00 “If you told me 15 years ago that there would be as many lobbyists at City Hall as there are today, I would have told you that you were out of your mind,” he said. Adler argued that the profusion of lobbying firms was the result of government making itself ever more complex. He noted that the complexity only served to “Eye of the Tiger” (The theme from Rocky) increase the need for experienced lobbyists. “The reason lobbyists exist is that we’re the experts on the behavior of government,” he said. “When people say they want to eliminate lobbyists, my answer to it is: okay, if everybody is required to take eight or nine different civics courses so they know how government operates, then you can do away with lobbyists.” Unlike many firms, Bolton St. Johns concentrates almost exclusively on traditional legislative lobbying and does virtually no public relations work. The firm also advises political candidates in grassroots campaigns, which Adler said helps it better shape its lobbying campaigns for clients. “It makes us a little bit smarter than people who don’t do political campaigns,” he said.

TOTAL BILLING FOR 2006: Proposed firm theme song:

CITY HALL

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The Parkside Group

Standing: Harry Giannoulis Seated (L-R): Barry Grodenchik, Evan Stavisky, Tiffany Raspberry and Bill Driscoll

TOP 10 CLIENTS FOR 2006: New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. NYC & Company AAFE Management United Food & Commercial Workers District Council of NY & Northern NJ Telebeam Telecommunications Corp. Danaher Controls, Inc. AFSCME Local 2021 Queensborough Community College Auxiliary Enterprise Association, Inc. Queens College Foundation – Research of CUNY.

INCE OPENING its doors in 2000, the Parkside Group has emerged as one of the fastest-growing and most sought-after lobbying firms in New York City. The Nassau Street firm has seen lobbying revenue more than double over the last three years, and it now represents more than 50 clients, ranging from small not-for-profit organizations to large corporations such as Entergy. Evan Stavisky, one of the Parkside Group’s founders, said the firm’s success was the result of its unique strategy. “We have a unique approach in that we run public policy efforts like campaigns,” he said. “There is a press component, a community organizing component, and an advocacy component, as well as a legislative strategy.” Stavisky comes from a political family—his father was in the Legislature for 35 years, and his mother is currently a State Senator representing Queens. Stavisky said his political know-how gave the firm an edge in getting its clients’ messages across. $2,462,786.00 “If we’re able to give some insight into how best to frame a message that resonates with policy makers on behalf of our clients, that’s certainly beneficial,” he said. “We Are the Champions” by Queen In addition to representing large companies, the Parkside Group is also retained by several prominent unions, and it counts among its campaigns an effort to keep Wal-Mart out of New York City. Harry Giannoulis, former ombudsman to Gov. Mario Cuomo (D) and a cofounder of the Parkside Group, said the firm’s wide variety of clients was more of a benefit than a challenge. “That’s actually what makes the work interesting, that you’re able to represent different people who have different agendas,” he said. “It keeps the day interesting, and it keeps the job interesting.” Stavisky agreed with that assessment, adding, “While the clients change, the skills are universal and the challenges are pretty consistent.”

TOTAL BILLING FOR 2006: Proposed firm theme song:

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Greenberg Traurig

From left: Robert M. Harding, Alexis B. Offen, Agostino Cangemi, Edward C. Wallace, and John L. Mascialino

TOP 10 CLIENTS FOR 2006: ELAD Group, Ltd Bearing Point Consulting Flag Luxury Properties LLC/Ferry Point Partners American Medical Alert Corporation Bovis Lend Lease Cisco Systems Hunts Point Produce Cooperative Extell Development Company SCW West, LLC S&H Equities, Inc.

REENBERG TRAURIG, known primarily as one of the largest law firms in New York City dealing in real estate zoning regulations and government transactions, was also the fourth largest lobbying firm in the city in 2006. However, Ed Wallace, a former City Council member and lawyer with the firm who is involved in governmental affairs, said that that distinction can be misleading. “The reason people come to us is frankly not primarily for lobbying,” he said. “It’s incidentally for lobbying and primarily for broader legal services.” Under New York City lobbying law, when a law firm such as Greenberg Traurig assists a client in a transaction to sell services to the government, such as a telephone or a software company, that work is reportable as lobbying. Hence, large law firms that abide by the city’s reporting guidelines can end up being listed as top lobbyists, even though they are not engaged in traditional legislative lobbying. “I think most lawyers around town should probably be registering and reporting more than they do,” Wallace said, reflecting on the city’s broad reporting requirements. While Greenberg Traurig may not fit the usual definition of a lobbying firm, Wallace nonetheless said one of the firm’s primary jobs is to be a translator between government and business. “If there is a common thread, it is teaching the private sector not to be angry at the government, and teaching the government not to think that everybody in the private sector has endless amounts of money,” he said.

TOTAL BILLING FOR 2006: $2,233,433.34

Proposed firm theme song: “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge

JULY 2007

CITY HALL

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Constantinople & Vallone Consulting, LLC ETERAN NEW York City politician and former City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, From left: Anthony Constantinople, Esq, Sr. joined Constantinople Consulting three years ago, giving the long established firm Tony Constantinople, Peter Vallone Sr., a new name and some added political clout. Laura Imperiale, Raymond E. Frier “We’ve noticed a jump in our retainers since then,” founder Tony Constantinople said. The firm now ranks seventh in the city, with 23 clients. With ten of those clients real estate developers, the firm has benefited from the city’s development boom in recent years. However, Constantinople is quick to distinguish what type of growth the firm is seeking. “We’re not in this for revenue growth,” he said, “We’re trying to do the right thing for the city.” “That is a big distinction,” he added. “Most of our competition is looking to build business for the sake of business, and that’s not what we’re doing.” While development interests are a large part of Constantinople & Vallone’s clientele, the firm has also come out against eminent domain, and represents Willets Point Industry & Realty, a corporation dedicated to protecting the Willets Point area Waste Management from overdevelopment. Commerce Bank In addition to lobbying, the firm also concentrates on fundraising for political K. Hovnanian Companies, Northeast, Inc. candidates at both the city and state level, underscoring what they feel is the conT.A. Ahern Contractors Corp/Ahern Painting tinued political importance of Vallone’s backing. Willets Point Industry & Realty, Corp. Vallone, who represented Astoria, Queens for 27 years before being term-limited Zar Realty Management Corp. out of office, said his lobbying work was a natural extension of his career in public Boymelgreen Developers, LLC office. Harlem River Yards Ventures, Inc. “All of the areas that we represent are things that, if I were in government, I Jackson Development Group, Ltd. would be concentrating on, and are what I did concentrate on when I was in govCoach USA; KEDC Holdings Corp. ernment,” he said, pointing in particular to the firm’s work on behalf of clean enerPlaza 75 Realty, Inc. gy and equitable banking practices. Tan International Group Vallone also said his experience working with lobbyists when he was in office Taser International had taught him the value of his current work. Tully Construction. “A lobbyist is not a term to be demeaned,” he said. “It’s a good term when used properly.” *Several companies spent equal amount of money with this firm, creating ties for the Top 10 clients. This list represents the companies which spent the most money with the firm. Perhaps the most notable aspect of the firm is its family ties. Constantinople and Vallone are brothers-in-law, and the firm includes Vallone’s son, Paul, as well as Anthony Constantinople, Jr.—though as the elder Constantinople points out, there is no actual blood tie between the two families. $1,649,500.00 Nonetheless, he said he expects the firm to continue being a family affair. “Looking down the road, we would like to develop the next generation of Constantinoples and Vallones to run the firm,” he said. “Within five years, we think you’ll see a new generation managing the business.”.

TOP 10 CLIENTS FOR 2006:

TOTAL BILLING FOR 2006:

CITY HALL

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Connelly McLaughlin

(L-R): Maureen Connelly and AUREEN CONNELLY and Martin McLaughlin were no strangers to New York City Martin McLaughlin politics and consulting before joining forces in 1993 to form Connelly McLaughlin. Connelly was a top political advisor to Ed Koch during his 1977 mayoral campaign and served as his press secretary from 1978 to 1980, when she left to join a consulting company. McLaughlin spent 14 years reporting on labor and politics for the Daily News before becoming press secretary for Mayor Ed Koch’s gubernatorial campaign. He became a full time lobbyist in 1982. In its 14 years, the firm has represented an eclectic array of clients, ranging from the New York Public Library to Sean “Puffy” Combs. That diversity was a large part of the appeal of lobbying, Connelly said. “What’s interesting about the work that we do is that it’s not doing the same thing over and over again,” she said. “You’re always learning something.” ITAC While Connelly McLaughlin has represented a large number of clients over the years, the firm’s competitiveness lies in keeping a relatively small RFR Holding Corp. list of current clients, Connelly said, which allows the firm’s principals to Valeray Real Estate Company, Inc. give each campaign personal attention. Stellar Management/Independence Plaza Assoc. In addition to lobbying, the firm does a large amount of press relations Seventh Regiment Armory Conservancy, Inc. work, which Connelly said was a key to any successful campaign. BFC Partners “A lot of these are controversial issues,” she said. “You may know what Chetrit Group/200 Fifth Avenue the strategy is with government officials, but you have to have a press stratEntertainment Software Assoc. egy that goes hand in glove.” Glenwood Management Corporation “I think our claim to fame is we’re good press strategists and we’re good Hunter College crises managers,” McLaughlin added. “We know how to tiptoe through the International Code Council minefield.” Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade In an industry where longevity is the exception rather than the rule, One York Street Associates, LLC McLaughlin said the keys to success are simple.

TOP 10 CLIENTS FOR 2006:

“Work your butt off and be as persistent as you have to be to get something done,” he said. “If you have to make 500 phone calls, you make the 500 phone calls.” But hard work is no guarantee of success, and McLaughlin admitted there was little room for failure in an increasingly competitive and growing lobbying field. “If you bat .333 in the major leagues, you’re an all-star,” he said. “In this business, you’ve got to bat about .750 to stay on top.”

TOTAL BILLING FOR 2006: $1,418,900.00

Proposed firm theme song: “Dear Old Donegal”

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Geto & DeMilly

From left: Ethan Geto, Julie Hendricks, N A BUSINESS where lobbying firms can come and go, Geto & DeMilly has Joyce Baumgarten, Peter Krokondelas been one of the city’s most persistent. Founded in 1980 by Ethan Geto and and Michele de Milly Michelle DeMilly, Geto & DeMilly ranked ninth in lobbying revenue for 2006 and now has more than 20 clients. From the start, the firm specialized in representing real estate interests. Prior to becoming a lobbyist DeMilly was press secretary for the Empire State Development Corporation. She feels that her experience there largely shaped the firm’s client list, which includes some of the city’s largest developers. DeMilly said the firm was devoted to advancing both community and development interests. “I think our strength is in forging compromises between community issues and the development community,” she said. “In addition to working for the developers, we also work for the Municipal SJP Residential Properties Arts Society and other organizations that are interested in the East River Realty Company, LLC development projects.” Forest City Ratner Companies Over its long life, Geto & DeMilly has taken on several long W2001 Z/15 CPW Realty, LLC campaigns, such as a ten-year effort to pass no-smoking legislaThe Brodsky Organization tion. In general, DeMilly said that long relationships were a hallThe City Investment Fund, L.P. mark of the firm; one client has been with the firm for 24 years. Eldridge Street Project In addition to traditional lobbying, the firm also concentrates on public relations and community relations services. DeMilly said Meilman Family Real Estate that the three complement one another, and that representing a Callen-Lorde Community Health Center variety of clients and campaigns plays to the firm’s strengths. 122 Greenwich Owner, LLC “We’re pretty good at running from one issue to another,” she said. “We’re not great experts on every topic, but we sure know a lot about the chief public policy issues that affect our city and our $1,323,996.00 state.” “We’re able to switch hats pretty easily,” she added. Geto, who previously served as a top policy advisor to former New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams (D), said the “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra firm’s background in government and politics was a key to its longevity. “We understand the nature of those enterprises and how to navigate them,” he said.

TOP 10 CLIENTS FOR 2006:

TOTAL BILLING FOR 2006: Proposed firm theme song:

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Yoswein New York

ORMER STAFFER and then Assembly Member Joni Yoswein founded Yoswein New Back Row (L-R): Christopher York in 1994. Since then, the firm has grown gradually, and has been one of the top 10 Grimm, Glenn Van Bramer, Nina lobbying firms in the city for five of the last six years. Burke and Tyquana Henderson Today, the firm represents just over 20 clients, which Yoswein said reflects her belief that Front Row (L-R): Joni Yoswein bigger is not always better. and Jamie Van Bramer “One of the things we did from the beginning was to build a boutique firm, meaning we didn’t want too many clients,” she said. “We didn’t want to have the 30-, 40- or 50-client roster.” To represent those clients it does take on, the firm at times launches rather unconventional campaigns, such as creating the world’s largest Caesar salad, which weighed in at 5,620 pounds. Overall, Yoswein said her early political work had had the most influence on her approach to lobbying. “Being a staff person helped me tremendously in terms of showing me what I wanted to be when I grew up,” she said. “There is nothing like being New York Academy of Medicine in a district office helping a constituent to ground you and remind you of 380 Development, LLC the importance of an elected official representing their constituents.” BA Cypress Bronx Holding, LLC Jamie van Bramer, a lobbyist with the firm—and the son of Yoswein’s Maimonides Medical Center husband, Glenn van Bramer, who is also with the firm—previously served Brooklyn Philharmonic as chief of staff to then-Assembly Member Roberto Ramirez (D-Bronx). He SUNY Downstate Medical Center said the political experience within the firm gave Yoswein a distinct advanMount Sinai Hospital, Queens Campus tage. The New 42nd Street, Inc. “With all of us coming out of government politics, we’ve taken the Bailey House notion of a campaign mentality for our clients,” Van Bramer said. “So if a Brooklyn Technical High School Alumni Association development project needs both public relations work, community organizing and grass roots organizing—all of the things that come into a campaign—we’re able to do them all in-shop here.” $1,187,000.00 The firm relied heavily on those campaign strategies in representing retail giant Ikea in that company’s effort to open a store in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Yoswein said the success of that campaign was the result of extensive “Respect” by Aretha Franklin community outreach. Alternate choice: “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly “That was a project that really should have been controversial,” she said. “We knew we needed to build support among the community members that lived near the Ikea project and really had the most to lose or win.” Tyguana Henderson, a lobbyist with the firm, said the Ikea project highlighted Yoswein New York’s character. “I think that is what is unique about our firm—we care more than just about our clients,” she said. “We care about the communities.”

TOP 10 CLIENTS FOR 2006:

TOTAL BILLING FOR 2006: Proposed firm theme song:

CITY HALL

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Can Rudy Save the New York GOP

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

Some see Rudy Giuliani as the state party’s savior. Others warn against putting too much stock in his ability to bring the New York GOP back from the brink.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

nominating conventions. Collecting these signatures is never easy, even in years with top-of-the-ticket elections or in places where a party can count on abundant registration and sympathy. But with their numbers dwindling, many Manhattan Republicans have taken to sitting in campaign headquarters, calling through lists of members and rushing over with paperwork to the apartments of the people they catch at home. More than just collecting signatures, Lehman believes his very presence on the corner promotes his party. Most ignore him or decline politely, though some eye him suspiciously. One woman mockrecoils when she hears his question. “I’d rather be dead,” she says to her son, laughing. After an hour and a half, Lehman counts his haul. He has 24 signatures, though one or two may be from district non-residents, and therefore ineligible. “You need to be on the street. You need to be out there showing people we’re not ogres and all the things we’re otherwise

accused of being,” Lehman said. A documentary filmmaker preparing to edit his first feature, about a fiddle contest in Idaho, Lehman is frustrated with his party. If Republicans had been on street corners over the years, maybe collecting signatures would not be so hard. Maybe he would even have a few more Republican elected officials to call his own, and the June 5 special election for the Assembly district he is standing in would not have been such a blowout. There were better days for New York Republicans, Lehman knows, and former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s front-runner presidential campaign gives him hope they might return. “A leader like Giuliani can bring us back to that, and it’s energizing,” he said.

“We’re on Life Support” For the first time in 70 years, Democrats hold all six statewide offices. The Democratic majority in the Assembly has jumped 15 seats in as many

years, including the early July snag of Westchester’s Mike Spano from across the aisle. The Republican State Senate majority has been slowly slipping away, its four-seat margin cut to two within the last year. Three more Congressional seats went blue last year. And, of course, Michael Bloomberg, who gave the GOP its biggest victory in

party seemed to have made a definitive ascent. The fall has been long and hard. “We did not develop a bullpen, a second tier we could bring up; we sat back on our laurels and became indistinguishable from the Democrats,” said one senior Republican. “Pataki did nothing to build the base of the party. What he did was go around and raise money and cut deals.” King agreed. “For 12 years, the whole party apparatus was geared toward Governor Pataki,” he said. “There were no successors or farm team being groomed. As Governor Pataki decided to step away, there was no one positioned to fill that vacuum.” King and others repeat a simple mantra as they try to pull their state party back from the edge of death: get back to core principles. Invest in the grassroots. And, dear god, hold onto the State Senate. They want a savior. They need a savior. His name, King and most party leaders agree, is Giuliani. In Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and everywhere else, he regales crowds with tales of his background in conservative fiscal management in the city and his success in presiding over a dramatic drop in the crime rate. He tells everyone, everywhere, at every opportunity, about the Sept. 11 attacks and how he thinks his role managing the aftermath demonstrates his ability to protect the country from terrorism. He does not often mention the engine he provided for Republicans in the city. But top Republican political consultant Bill O’Reilly remembers those days well, and remembers them fondly. “Rudy ’89 definitely charged up the party in those days,” he recalled. “There was an air of inevitably that things were about to change in our favor. And they did.” Though Giuliani narrowly lost that first race, he won his rematch with David Dinkins four years later, helping to carry six Republicans with him into the New York City Council. Before he was elected, just one Republican sat on the 35-member Council. In the new, 51-member Council elected on the same day Giuliani won his first term, there were six Republicans. Though some were in districts, like the two on Manhattan’s East

“This is one of those unusual times when I think what’s good for the country is even better for New York.” —Republican Party State Chairman Joseph Mondello New York City political history 20 months ago, has bolted as well. “We’re on life support,” said Rep. Peter King (R-Nassau). In 1994, after the elections that made George Pataki governor, Republicans held four of the six statewide offices. The

Side, that swung back to the Democrats while Giuliani was mayor, gains in other areas put Republicans in seven seats by the time the planes hit the Twin Towers. O’Reilly expects Giuliani to work that same magic on the state level next year, helping his hometown team win local

CITY HALL offices and planting enough seeds to make races in 2010—when the four state offices and Charles Schumer’s Senate seat will be up for election—at least somewhat more competitive than last year’s rout. “Strong political parties don’t make great candidates,” O’Reilly explained. “Great candidates make strong political parties. Rudy Giuliani electrified a New York GOP that had been on its heels for years. He could do the same for the party in 2008 by putting the state back into play.” What the Giuliani Republican revolution did not have, however, was lasting power. His endorsement helped Bloomberg become his successor at City Hall, but after the 2001 elections, Republicans were left with only four seats on the City Council. Then, just a few months after Sept. 11, he threw heavy support behind John Ravitz in the special election to replace longtime Manhattan State Sen. Roy Goodman. Liz Krueger was massively outspent, but still won with 58 percent. Republicans have since dropped to three seats in the Council, and lost by wide margins races for seats in City Hall and the Legislature that were expected to be competitive—even when their candidates have been better funded and endorsed by major daily newspapers. The visions of a Republican transformation in the city have faded, with an ever-smaller group of GOP elected officials scattered across the city (and none anymore in Manhattan or the Bronx). By this point, some Republicans call it victory not when they win, but when their candidates break 35 percent. “Just look at the scoreboard, just look at the number of elections we haven’t won over the last couple years,” said James Oddo (Staten Island), the Council’s current Republican leader. “I think the problem is deep.” Oddo enthusiastically supports Giuliani. Most of all, he likes the fit of Giuliani’s record for the White House, but the potential for jumpstarting the party gets him excited as well. “I’m one of those guys who puts a lot of stock in the power of Rudy as the nominee,” Oddo said. But though he has hope for what Giuliani can do in the rest of the state, Oddo does not expect to see Republicans regain territory in the city for years. With the next citywide elections just over two years away, Oddo said he had trouble understanding how Republicans would stand much of a chance of even fielding candidates. “I see a lot of my Democratic colleagues raising money out the wazoo,” he said. “I don’t even hear about names for citywide candidates. As I sit here right now, I’d be shocked to see a full slate.” Nor does Oddo think that the root cause is endemic to the Big Apple. “This is a problem from the county committees of individual counties all the way to the top,” he said. “There’s plenty of blame to go around.” Joseph Mondello, who became the state Republican chairman in the wake of last year’s blowout elections, acknowledged

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J U LY 2007

Regardless of Rudy, Prospects and Plans

Rudy Giuliani made a rare campaign appearance in New York in May, flying in to pick up the endorsements of Joe Bruno, Joe Mondello and many other New York Republicans. hatever happens in the race for president, for now, state Republicans are concentrating on protecting their last major foothold, the State Senate majority, hanging by a two-vote margin. Gov. Eliot Spitzer has made putting Democrats in control of that chamber a priority, and by throwing his intense support behind Andrea Stewart Cousins and Craig Johnson (in the special election prompted by Spitzer’s poaching Republican Sen. Michael Balboni to be a deputy secretary), he has brought his party much closer to that goal. Spitzer and Bruno have been engaged in a long public feud, which some, like Bruno, believe will help Republicans politically over the next election cycle. Bruno said Democrats around the state should prepare for tough fights.

that the state party has made mistakes with candidate recruitment and cultivating the grassroots. By hosting more frequent meetings of county chairs and stepping up fundraising, he hopes to change things. But the best hope for a revival, he said, would be a Giuliani candidacy. “Yes,” he said. “Unequivocally yes.” Mondello endorsed Giuliani in early May. The next day, he joined most of the state’s other leading Republicans in an Albany hangar for an official endorsement event. They praised the mayor as a crime fighter and as the candidate most

“We’re going to go straight at a number of them,” Bruno said, arguing that some of the prospects are New York City districts, where Republicans may be able to pick up the pieces if termlimited Council members run bruising primaries against incumbent Democrats. “We’re putting together and have together a plan and a program,” he said. And having Giuliani in the race may make for a perfect alignment of the political stars. “Rudy’s candidacy certainly helps all here in New York,” he said. Bruno is not the only one making plans. Ken Spain, a spokesman for the National Republican Campaign Committee, said the GOP is fully expecting to take back the three qualified to continue fighting terrorism. For Mondello and others, though, there was an ulterior motive as well. “This is one of those unusual times when I think what’s good for the country is even better for New York,” he explained. Mondello has high hopes: he believes Giuliani will appeal to fellow moderate Republicans, secure the more conservative wing of the party and attract enough crossover Democrats to win easily. He will cause such a surge, Mondello predicted, that by the time the votes are

seats lost in the 2006 elections. The Suffolk seat currently held by Rep. Timothy Bishop is another possibility, Spain said. K. T. McFarland, who moved to the district full time after losing her Senate primary last year, is among those considering the race. Spain said other candidates may soon step forward. “It seems counterintuitive, but some of our best recruiting efforts have come in New York,” he said. One of those recruits, Alexander Treadwell, just announced that he raised $333,000 in the last quarter, preparing to take on Rep. Kristen Gillibrand in the upstate Congressional district that overlaps with the area Bruno represents in the State Senate. —EIRD eidovere@manhattanmedia.com

counted next November, the party will be out of the intensive care unit entirely. “If Rudy Giuliani gets to be our candidate, and he’s running here in New York, then I think you can count on the Republican Party coming back next year,” Mondello said. “And then hold onto your hats.”

Tough Talk from Some, Pessimism from Others Most

Democrats

would

dismiss

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JULY 2007

Giuliani

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25

Mondello’s tough talk as standard boasting for the outset of a campaign season. With the unpopular Iraq War making President George W. Bush and the national Republican Party a constantly heavier drag on the New York GOP, they take Mondello’s predictions even less seriously. Though the national party’s rightward tack has created problems for New York’s generally more moderate Republicans, this is not the national trend veteran political strategist Ed Rollins says should most worry his state party. The real problem, Rollins said, is that Republican presidential strategists have given up on contesting the state. And, he thinks, without reason: with Rollins’ help, Ronald Reagan ran hard twice in New York and won both times, pouring energy and money into the state. No Republican nominee since has followed his lead, instead traveling to the state only to fundraise. They did not air campaign commercials. They did not make whistle stop appearances with local contenders. They did not invest in direct mail, which could also have carried smaller pictures of hopefuls for the House and Legislature, or even simple reminders to voters that there were elections for those seats as well. “The Bush administration making a determination that they did not want to compete in New York hurt the Republican Party in the state,” Rollins said. “That was significant.” The only way to build the base is around the extremely well-known political personalities, as only presidential candidates can really achieve, Rollins said. Giuliani’s enormous name recognition and proven electoral viability in New York has the potential to put the state in

State Republicans say that Michael Bloomberg’s decision to leave the party did not hurt them much. But they place much of the blame for the party’s problems on former Gov. George Pataki. pursue a Reaganesque 50-state strategy. But the person he envisions in the role is not Giuliani. Instead, as he has said at every opportunity over the past few

But even if Giuliani is the nominee, D’Amato is pessimistic about Republican chances. Democrats have long been the leaders in registration. Recently, the gap has widened significantly: in the 15 years since Giuliani won his first term as mayor, Democrats have added 1.1 million new voters, Republicans only 265,000. Pointing to Alan Hevesi, who won by a 2 to 1 margin in last year’s comptroller’s race while under investigation for the crime that forced him to resign just six weeks later, D’Amato said New York Republicans should accept that they will not be winning again any time soon, no matter whom the party nominates for president. “Unless you have a unique Republican candidate running against a terribly flawed Democrat,” D’Amato said, “it’s virtually impossible.”

“Unless you have a unique Republican candidate running against a terribly flawed Democrat,” former Sen. Al D’Amato said of his party’s chances to win state office, “it’s virtually impossible.” play. Though Rollins does not believe in coattails, he said that if Giuliani invests time and campaign cash in New York, the mayor could turn what is an increasingly overwhelming tide back in the GOP’s favor. For a party with a treasury that state party communications director Matthew Walter said remains “something that’s kind of in a state of flux,” just a piece of Giuliani’s presidential war chest—which added another $17 million raised last quarter—could go a long way. Former Sen. Al D’Amato, one of the main architects of the Republican resurgence in the early 1990s, also believes in a Republican candidate with ability to

weeks, his choice is Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee senator whose time in New York was spent largely on the set of Law & Order, where he played District Attorney Arthur Branch for the last five seasons. Though D’Amato thinks Giuliani may be best positioned to win the New York primary, he believes Thompson is the man who could actually win the presidency. So while Giuliani would be good for state Republicans, D’Amato said, in the bigger picture, Thompson would be better. “He could be the unifier that this party needs nationwide, and in New York State,” D’Amato predicted of Thompson.

Paging Dr. Giuliani Giuliani campaign spokesman Michael McKeon said the former mayor is looking to live up to the faith so many New York Republicans have put in him. “We certainly hope that the mayor at

CITY HALL the top of the ticket will be helpful to Republicans in the State Senate and Republicans everywhere,” McKeon said, predicting that the main benefit will come through Giuliani putting the state in play next November. For now, the campaign is apparently counting on the former mayor’s competitiveness in the state to be based on name recognition, hometown pride and his more moderate stances. Aside from appearing at the party’s Lincoln Day dinner in April and a month later swooping into a hangar in Albany for just long enough to pick up the endorsements of the assembled Republicans, Giuliani has done little in New York connected to his presidential campaign beyond fundraising. Whenever events do get put on the schedule, McKeon said, candidates for down-ballot races will be invited to participate. “As time goes on, we’ll do more in New York,” McKeon said. “We’ll be more involved in New York for sure.” Though a Giuliani supporter, John Faso fears that many in the state party are putting too much stock in the former mayor’s ability to revive the party. As the Republican nominee against Spitzer last year, Faso got less than 30 percent of the vote. Four years earlier, he came within a few points of winning the comptroller’s race. He has not ruled out another run for office. Nor has he ruled out a future for the New York GOP. “Every time I hear the obituary being written of one of the major political parties, within a few short years and political cycles, all those notions are overturned,” he said. Those obituaries were written about the Democrats in 1994. With Republicans triumphant, recriminations flew that Mario Cuomo had transformed his whole party apparatus into a vehicle for a presidential run that never quite came to be. Democrats rebuilt. By the time the nationwide Democratic wave arrived last year, they were able to ride it all the way to victory, much as Republicans did on the back of the Contract with America in 1994. They did it by slowly, losing races several times before they won, raising money, standing on street corners petitioning. These are the kinds of things that Faso said Republicans need to start concentrating on in the wake of their own three-term governor who never quite jumped into the race for president. “A lot of Republicans tend to always want to find a savior as an excuse for not doing the hard work and the candidate recruitment and the money-raising they need to do in their own backyard,” Faso said. Instead, he fears, many are effectively watching the sky, waiting for Giuliani’s campaign jet to appear. “They’re expecting someone to swoop down and take care of things,” he said. “That’s not going to be a strategy for success.” eidovere@manhattanmedia.com

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Counting on an Uphill Battle for Comptroller Calling the race the culmination of his career, Brennan prepares to take on several high profile Council members BY DAVID FREEDLANDER RACE TO REPLACE BILL Thompson (D) as New York City comptroller is already well under way, with a slew of high profile, term-limited Council members raising money and coyly campaigning. Into the mix, and making no bones about his intentions, comes Assembly Member James Brennan, a well-respected six-term Democratic legislator from Park Slope, Brooklyn. He has before him the tricky task of running for a citywide office that few people really understand against younger, better known upstarts at a time when his day job in the Legislature puts him in a body more unpopular than ever. Plus, that day job means that he spends much of his time in Albany, 160 miles away from the media glare and voters of New York. “Any local official [running citywide] faces a major challenge because they are local and this is a city of eight million people. It’s huge,” Brennan said when asked about his chances. “Is it more difficult because I’m in the Assembly? I don’t know. I think it’s pretty difficult for everyone.” Brennan was ready to jump into the 2005 race had Thompson decided to run for mayor instead of seek reelection. As past chair of the Assembly’s Mental Health Committee and current chair of the Cities Committee, he believes his record and experience would make for a snug fit for comptroller. Known for being something of a firebrand, he was involved in the unsuccessful 2000 coup to oust Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan). “Fiscal matters have long interested me, holding government agencies accountable for their performance has long interested me,” he said. “I’m a veteran lawmaker with a broad background in and immersion in the fiscal details of state and city budgets. People who know me recognize that I have a powerful fiscal mind and, in combination with my experience, I think I would do well in that job.” This is all in addition to what Brennan sees as a deeper connection to the work of a comptroller. “It’s a natural fit for my personality,” he said. That may be part of his problem. He has the methodical, bean-counting, fullparagraph-speaking personality that is illsuited to capture the attention of the electorate on a down-ballot campaign in a crowded field. “The problems he faces are called

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

After almost jumping into the 2005 race for comptroller, Assembly Member James Brennan says he is in it to win for 2009. Yassky, Felder, Weprin—and that’s just the start of his problem,” said longtime Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf, naming some of the expected 2009 field. “My advice: raise money and stop sleeping.” The first part he has started to do. He has raised $261,000 from more than 1,100 donors so far, adding approximately $38,000 at the July filing, he said. And he has rustled up some media coverage recently for authoring a bill to put tougher penalties for building abuses and, in a move that landed him on the front pages of several newspapers, for his part in successfully filing a Freedom of Information lawsuit against Forest City Ratner to force the company to disclose its financial plans for the Atlantic Yards project. But he still remains a relative unknown even to many political observers. “Others have been working at this for a while, they have increased their ID in voters’ minds, and he’s been seen a lot less, so he’s got a lot of work to do,” explained Sheinkopf. Harrison Goldin, who served four terms as comptroller, from 1974 to 1989, after serving in the State Senate, disagreed that Council members are some-

how better suited for the job or the campaign, noting that he defeated a Council member himself in his first race. Goldin conceded, however, that being away from the city so much during the legislative session will likely add an extra barrier. “When you are in the Council, you have a physical presence in New York, so there isn’t the huge strain of having to go back and forth all the time,” he said.

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum (D) might enter the comptroller’s race, if she decides that a mayoral run will prove too daunting. No major Republican has expressed much interest in the race to date. “I will make one prediction: that there will be a lot of people in the race,” Brennan said. Unlike some of the others, Brennan sees being comptroller as the culmination of his career. While most of his likely opponents will try to use the office as little more than a stepping-stone to a higher profile position, Brennan vows that if he wins, he’ll retire at the conclusion of his second term. And if he loses, he will still have his seat in the Assembly. Yet most see the kind of race he ends up running depending greatly on who else gets in the race and how different ethnic and borough loyalties fall. As a white progressive, Brennan has to get a substantial portion of the vote in Manhattan, where a disproportionate number of people vote in down-ballot elections, as well as in the so-called Brownstone Belt in the wealthier enclaves of Brooklyn. In a race some are already predicting will go to a run-off, Brennan would likely need to peel off some minority voters as well. So far, few other than the prospective candidates themselves are expressing preferences in the race, despite the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union’s June 21 backing of Katz. But Brennan says he still sees the race as being at a very early stage, and he remains undaunted. “My decisions about what I do are unaffected by other people’s decisions. I’m not calculating who will or will not do what,” he said. For Brennan, that is the only way to

“Is it more difficult because I’m in the Assembly? I don’t know. I think it’s pretty difficult for everyone.” –Assembly Member James Brennan Goldin added that state legislators must put in additional effort to be noticed by the small neighborhood newspapers that frequently highlight the work of their local Council members. The field is far from set yet, but Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn), along with Queens Democrats David Weprin, Melinda Katz and John Liu, seem likely to get involved, and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, Jr. (D) is being talked about as a possibility for the race as well, if he decides to drop down from his current all-but-announced run for mayor. One consultant suggested that

approach what he sees as a crucially important job which he believes he needs to do. “I want to count what I think is important. I am a liberal and a progressive and I am interested in holding city agencies accountable in what I think is important in terms of public safety, in terms of jobs, in terms of health care,” he said. “I’m running because I want that job. I’m not bailing out of Albany because I don’t like being a state legislator or something.” davidfreedlander@gmail.com Direct letters to the editor to cityhall@manhattanmedia.com.

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JULY 2007

BACK IN THE DISTRICT

Still Walking the Beat

BRONX

After 21 years with the NYPD and a decade with 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement, Eric Adams retools as a state senator

QUEENS

BY DAN RIVOLI

“

KNOW THAT FACE,” SAID

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

the gray-haired woman in the coral dress. “I saw him on the news with the brother Al Sharpton.” She was at St. John’s RICHMOND University in Queens to see her daughter graduate from W. E. B. DuBois High School in Crown Heights. Before the ceremony began, she approached State Sen. rent Brooklyn Borough Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn) to chat President Marty Markowitz him up and ask for a picture with (D), who is white, held the him. seat for 23 years. Earlier that day at another “Many people said I high school graduation, this one couldn't win that district, it’s at Medgar Evers College, a camtoo white,” Adams said. pus security guard greeted But he was determined. To Adams. win last year’s three-way pri“How’s everything, Mr. Adams? mary, he reached out to differAll right?” he said while opening a ent ethnic groups in the disdoor for the 46-year-old retired trict, notably Crown Heights’ police captain. large Jewish community, pick“The graduations are great,” ing up local Assembly said Adams, driving through the Member Dov Hikind’s (Ddistrict that morning in a silver Brooklyn) endorsement along BMW SUV. “Gives you a chance to the way. meet the public, talk to students.” He is the ranking His staffer and driver for the Democrat on the Crime and day, Lamona Knight, owns the Corrections Committee and SUV. Adams also drives a BMW, the Homeland Security and though his is a convertible. Military Affairs Committee. He has come a long way from He still speaks about the the young teen with a criminal State Senate as a natural record raised in Jamaica, Queens. extension of his experience Long before he won his Senate in the police department and seat last year, he had been recoghis 10 years with 100 Blacks nized for his distinguished career in Law Enforcement. in law enforcement and vocal “First I was the marine,” criticism of the police depart- Though he has left the police force for the State he said, referring to his ment. Senate, Eric Adams still preserves a strong connecHis brainchild, 100 Blacks in tion with his law enforcement background in nearly police background. “Now I’m the general.” Law Enforcement Who Care, everything he does in public life. At the end of the spring attempts to mend the relationship session, he successfully fought a bill between New Yorkers and police offi- to get robbed.” Adams, who has lived in Prospect sponsored by another former police officers. He started the group in 1995 with Kelvin Alexander, who is now the deputy Heights for 18 years, understands that each neighborhood in his dischief of staff for his Senate office. Adams criticized the police when any- trict has its own issues—Park body, regardless of race, was a victim of Slope residents are concerned brutality. That helped his appeal in a dis- with overdevelopment, while trict that includes both wealthier, gentri- those in Bedford-Stuyvesant comfied neighborhoods like Park Slope and plain about underdevelopment, he Windsor Terrace and poorer areas like said. Though the black population in his Crown Heights and parts of Bedforddistrict increased by over a third during cer, State Sen. Martin Golden (RStuyvesant. In the past, Adams said of Crown the 1990s, the people who vote have Brooklyn). That bill would have made lying to the police a crime. Adams Heights’ main thoroughfare, he would remained essentially the same. Adams’ predecessor, Carl Andrews believed the bill would have increased never see “a white guy walking down Franklin unless he’s into S&M and wants (D), is black. Andrews’ predecessor, cur- the arrest rates of blacks and Hispanics,

KINGS

who are more likely to be randomly stopped for police questioning. Adams leapt into this debate, as he did with several others, refusing to be cowed by his freshman status. “I don’t walk. I strut on the Senate floor,” he joked at one of the graduations. Adams is not focused solely on law enforcement issues, though. In August, he is hosting a “Parent Empowerment Seminar.” It will address how to deal constructively with the police, but will also tackle nutrition, college preparation and more. Throughout his endeavors, the former juvenile delinquent who rose through the ranks of the police department stresses education and responsibility. Looking out at the “scholars,” as he called them, he preached that message at elementary graduations. He preached it at high school graduations. More like a man who had spent 21 years behind a pulpit rather than a police badge, Adams told the girls to keep their legs closed and the boys to raise their children should they become fathers. He directed much of his message, however, to the parents, encouraging them to search their children’s rooms. “If there’s Bambu, there may be a joint. If there’s a bullet, there may be a gun. If there’s a cut-off straw, there may be cocaine,” he advised them. Every school he went to, the parents applauded, with the occasional “Mmhmm,” and “That’s right” audible amid the clapping. The children responded, too. At the Acorn Community High School graduation, one student was very eager to show Adams and the crowd how much he was taking the message to heart. After Adams insisted on the importance of parents teaching their sons to wear belts, one graduate stood up, catching Adams’ eye. He lifted his long blue gown and pointed right to his belt buckle. drivoli@manhattanmedia.com

“First I was the marine,” he said, referring to his police background. “Now I’m the general.”

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

From the Big Apple to Beaufort With a political career that began as Koch’s advance man, Bill Rauch is now a three-term mayor himself. BY JOSEPH MEYERS RAUCH WAS ONCE MAYOR Ed Koch’s (D) advance man and press secretary. But these days, he has a city to call his own, as a mayor himself. “It’s Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn,” said Rauch, describing Beaufort, South Carolina, population 13,000, where he has been the chief executive for the past eight years. Koch hired Rauch in 1977 as his advance man in his first successful campaign for mayor. Rauch had been working as a journalist in Michigan, Boston, Long Island and Manhattan. Rauch served Koch in various positions for the next several years, before being promoted to press secretary midway through the mayor’s second term. Over the next four years, Rauch was faced with a series of scandals and media fiascos, all while dealing with the difficult task of handling a politician known for his hunger for media attention. Along the way, he coauthored two books with Koch, the best-selling Mayor: An Autobiography and its prequel, Politics. Rauch left the administration for Wall Street in 1986, after he got an offer for quadruple his City Hall salary. “I had a wife and a one-year-old son. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was an obvious decision,” Rauch said. Two years later, Rauch and his wife decided they wanted to raise that son in a place where he could safely “run out the back door and jump on his bike and go wherever he pleased,” Rauch said. Henry was first of six children, and Rauch thinks that Beaufort was the perfect town for raising them. On the weekend, they often go to the family farm to ride horses, fish and shoot birds. His son Henry, whom he joked never forgave him for leaving New York, attended Manhattanville College and currently resides New York City, where he is an intern for Bloomberg News. When he first got to Beaufort, Rauch founded The Lowcountry Ledger, a Sunday paper in a town that until then had only a weekday paper. He spent two years running the Ledger before closing the paper in advance of a brewing newspaper war that he feared might lead to the paper’s going bankrupt. Less than a year later, at the encouragement of his friends, Rauch ran for city council. Koch donated half of his $1,000 campaign budget. The other half came from Beaufort residents, albeit in smaller checks. Unlike the Koch campaigns, Rauch

ILL

Rauch today, living in Beaufort, South Carolina

Bill Rauch, with tape recorder in pocket at far right, in 1983. Pictured with him are Peter Kohlmann, Jim Harding and Ed Koch. lacked an extensive staff: this time he was the candidate, advance man and press secretary, along with everything else. But, looking back, he said his time in New York had been excellent preparation. “The lessons that you learn in big campaigns are all transferable in some scale or another to smaller campaigns,” Rauch said. Nonetheless, Rauch was surprised when he, a Yankee from the big city, won his first election for public office in a town where he says the legacy of the Civil War still resonates. “The reason for it wasn’t that I was so good, but that the other candidates were mediocre,” Rauch said. In 1999, after six years on the Beaufort city council, Rauch ran for mayor to fill out the term of the previous mayor, who had resigned. Rauch won 50.1 percent of the vote. Looking back, he said he benefited from the large number of candidates running. He was reelected twice: in 2000 he ran uncontested, and in 2004 he won

against a member of the city council. In 2004, Rauch published Politicking, which combines a personal memoir about his work with the Koch administration and with his own in Beaufort with advice

to small-town politicians trying to win their first elections. Rauch insists on the personal touch. Beaufort’s website lists his office and home phone numbers. He answers both lines himself. He visits the Big Apple four or five times a year to see his son, take care of personal business interests and pop in on Koch, with whom he stays in touch. He said he learned many lessons from his old boss, but the most important is always to be completely frank. “If it’s true, you can go ahead and say it,” Rauch said. “People get it. The other politicians may not like it, but the constituency gets it and they appreciate it.” But in some ways, Rauch hopes to outdo his political mentor. Koch won three terms before losing the Democratic primary in his bid for a fourth. Rauch has already won three elections and is hoping to run for mayor several more times. And he just might get his wish. Koch sometimes jokes that he wishes he could have been mayor for life. But without term limits or major political opposition in Beaufort, Rauch said, “I can be mayor forever.” jmeyers@manhattanmedia.com

INT. 598 Sponsor: David Weprin (D-Queens) A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York in relation to the tax on coin-operated amusement devices.

ON THE

AGENDA

Bills on the burner for the Council

Though taxes on coin-operated amusement devices were eliminated in 1997, the administrative code requiring that the devices bear tax stamps and that their owners keep tax records on their use remained. “I was a little taken aback,” Weprin said. “People are getting summonses for a law that doesn’t exist.” This bill would end that requirement, which Weprin says is used by some police officers to harass bar and arcade owners whose businesses are known as public nuisances. “Give them tickets for what they’re doing against the law. Don’t give them tickets for violating a law that’s almost impossible to comply with,” Weprin said. —Joseph Meyers jmeyers@manhattanmedia.com

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JULY 2007

EDITORIAL

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ack when he was a Republican, Mayor Michael Bloomberg used to argue that he helped his causes and the priorities he set for the city by dropping his own money into contributions for fellow members of the GOP. So much for that logic. Nine days after he re-registered as unaffiliated, Bloomberg blasted the Senate Appropriations Committee for approving an amendment to restrict police and public access to gun trace data, an even more stringent version of an existing law known as the Tiahrt Amendment. Bloomberg called the Senate version “worse than anything we’ve ever seen” and accused the senators who supported the amendment of placing “politics above law enforcement—and by doing so, they have made our nation a more dangerous place.” One of those senators—and the amendment’s sponsor—was Sen. Richard Shelby. A former Democrat like Bloomberg, Shelby switched parties the day after the 1994 elections, which gave Republicans control of Congress. Another similarity: both men won their most recent elections powered in part by the mayor’s personal money. On June 27, 2003, almost four years to the day before the vote he called “Congress at its most craven,” Bloomberg wrote two checks for $2,000 each to Shelby. Of the $1.5 million Bloomberg has con-

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tributed to various Republicans since he decided to borrow their party for his mayoral runs, hundreds of thousands went to State Senate candidates, which seems to have helped win him the sympathy of Majority Leader Joe Bruno on congestion pricing. Thousands went to George W. Bush, which could have contributed to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters’s effective endorsement of the plan. Then there are the contributions to Shelby. Or the ones to Rep. Hal Rogers, a Republican who, when he was chair of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee, consistently faced criticism for steering anti-terrorism money away from large cities and toward his Eastern Kentucky district. Or there is the $12,100 he gave Sen. Joe Lieberman last October and the thousands he has given Sen. John McCain and Bush over the years, helping elect consistent supporters of the Iraq War. Maybe the mayor feels that New York is

served by our military presence in Iraq, following one of the original rationales for the invasion that fighting terrorists elsewhere keeps us from having to fight them here. But should the state ever needs its National Guardsmen in an emergency, these leaders, with Bloomberg’s financial backing, have helped ensure that many troops will be closer to the Persian Gulf than the Hudson. As mayor, Bloomberg put a host of programs and policies into effect which made New York a radically better place. He set a new, much higher standard for competence and quality for those who will eventually succeed him. Convincing voters that they will be anywhere near as good as Bloomberg at the job is going to be a hard task for all the men and women who will come calling in 2009 and for decades to come. Of course, Bloomberg would probably never have been elected in the first place had he not bought credibility within the Republican Party. So there is a lot of good reason to support most of his political investment strategy. But not all of it.

LETTERS In Defense of the Supreme Court The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the use of race in determining school admissions is correct. The problem of “de facto” segregation and the resulting achievement gap is not solved through busing or magnet school programs. Merely sitting a black child next to a white child will not improve either child’s scholastic levels. But having equally high expectations, equal school funding levels, equally qualified and motivated teachers, as well as equally involved parents will improve the educational outcomes for black students. Instead of decrying the Court’s 5-4 decision, the Democratic presidential candidates should seize the opportunity to offer real solutions to a vexing problem.

New York City public schools have been short-changed by a biased state aid formula, an incompetent education bureaucracy, low expectations, poverty, and far too many unengaged parents. As New York City rebuilds its public schools, it will attract more middle class parents of all races, ethnicities and socio-economic class. High performing public charter schools, school choice programs, merit pay, full CFE funding and a city Department of Education that demands and rewards excellence will eliminate race as a factor in academic achievement. My fellow Democrats should embrace the decision and join me and real education reformers in making race an irrelevant issue. MICHAEL BENJAMIN MEMBER OF ASSEMBLY (D-BRONX)

mstinson@manhattanmedia.com

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ODDS&Ends

Who will win the 2008 presidential election? Who will lose? Who will drop out by the end of the month?

*** PRESIDENTIAL*** ***ODDS *** --------------------LAST MONTH----------CURRENTLY----PRICE ON ODDS ON PRICE ON ODDS ON DECLARED REPUBLICANS INTRADE LADBROKES INTRADE LADBROKES ----------------------------------------------------------JOHN MCCAIN RUDOLPH GIULIANI TOMMY THOMPSON DUNCAN HUNTER MITT ROMNEY SAM BROWNBACK RON PAUL MIKE HUCKABEE JIM GILMORE TOM TANCREDO

15.7 25.0 0.4 0.2 23.3 0.8 3.0 2.0 0.1 0.4

7 TO 1 7 TO 2 N/A 66 TO 1 10 TO 1 33 TO 1 40 TO 1 33 TO 1 N/A N/A

4.9 38.0 0.3 0.3 16.0 0.5 2.9 1.4 0.1 0.6

12 TO 1 9 TO 2 N/A 66 TO 1 10 TO 1 33 TO 1 50 TO 1 33 TO 1 N/A N/A

---------------------------------------------------------*** DATA AS OF JULY 10, 2007*** ----------------------------------------------------------

--------------------LAST MONTH----------CURRENTLY----PRICE ON ODDS ON PRICE ON ODDS ON DECLARED DEMOCRATS INTRADE LADBROKES INTRADE LADBROKES ----------------------------------------------------------HILLARY CLINTON BARACK OBAMA JOHN EDWARDS BILL RICHARDSON CHRIS DODD JOSEPH BIDEN DENNIS KUCINICH MIKE GRAVEL

52.0 5 TO 4 27.8 4 TO 1 7.3 7 TO 1 2.6 28 TO 1 0.3 N/A 0.6 33 TO 1 0.1 N/A 0.1 N/A

43.6 5 TO 4 39.4 4 TO 1 5.3 10 TO 1 1.9 28 TO 1 0.5 N/A 0.6 33 TO 1 0.1 N/A 0.2 N/A

--------------------LAST MONTH----------CURRENTLY----PRICE ON ODDS ON PRICE ON ODDS ON POTENTIAL ENTRIES INTRADE LADBROKES INTRADE LADBROKES ----------------------------------------------------------AL GORE 10.6 7 TO 1 JOHN KERRY 0.4 50 TO 1 FRED THOMPSON 25.6 7 TO 1 NEWT GINGRICH 2.5 N/A MICHAEL BLOOMBERG 0.6 20 TO 1

5.9 6 TO 1 0.4 50 TO 1 35.5 7 TO 2 3.3 N/A 0.4 18 TO 1

CITY HALL

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J U LY 2007

OP-ED

My Involved Life: How I Started and Why That Matters Many miles and years from the political salon in my mother’s living room, but not very far at all between Columbus and grew up at 50 West 96th Street. My Street Avenues (Riverside mother, Shirley (later Sarah), was a Amsterdam Neighborhood Assembly power on the House). Interestingly, there is West Side of a plaque on the outside of the Manhattan and my building. The names of all the twin brother Lewis big politicians are listed on and I went to West that plaque. But not my Side schools. I dismom’s name, and she did the tinctly remember whole thing. the day we all Those were amazing got marched times. I saw first hand over from the old the crumbling of the and degenerate P.S. Y LAN old West Side Machine 93—on 93rd Street, of HARTOCK to the reformers (William course—to the brand new Emily Dickinson School (P.S. 75) on Fitts Ryan, Al Blumenthal, Ted Weiss and West End Avenue. Our friends went to Fred Ohrenstein). I was the president of Horace Mann, Dalton, Walden and the Student Organization at Joan of Arc Riverdale. We both went on to become Junior High School, which was run by the legendary Dr. Stella M. Sweeting. She full professors, if you take my point. My mother, the school community was really something. She would stand coordinator, came up with one of the outside the building in the morning, and original Mitchell-Lama houses on 96th if you were not wearing the compulsory

B A

necktie (take that, you charter school uniform people!), she would rent you one and give the money to the United Nations Children’s Fund. Joan of Arc had the best orchestra teacher in the nation, Eugene Steiker, who by example taught me more about teaching than any school of education could possibly have done. We had a Boy Scout troop run by one Arnold Frankel, who was to scouting what George Patton was to the Third Army. Frankel had no real job, having been left a little money by his mom, so Scout Troop 579 was his job. He was always landing these great events for us, like blowing Taps on Memorial Day on top of the Hotel Astor in Times Square while traffic was stopped. We went to three Boy Scout meetings a week. Doing that honed social work skills just as much as going to social work school ever would. Likewise, taking the D train to Hunter in the Bronx from 96th Street

BY THOMAS DUANE here is simply no doubt that victims of sex crimes suffer a great deal of physical and mental anguish and that there is a need for substantive counseling, treatment and information to help them get on with their lives. As an elected official, I have a duty to ensure that victims of sexual assault, and all crime victims for that matter, have access to the best information and services that will enable them to recover. I also have the duty to oppose any legislation which does not accomplish this goal. Bills enacted for press releases do a disservice to the Legislature and all New Yorkers. Such was the case on June 12, 2007, when a bill requiring HIV tests for defendants accused of sexual assault (S.3740) passed the State Senate. While well meaning on its face, the bill failed to address numerous issues related to the health and safety of the victim, including the fact that testing the defendant for HIV will not enable the victim to know whether she or he acquired the virus. The only way for anyone to be 100 percent sure of her or his HIV status is to be tested. In order to actually provide real services for sexual assault victims, I introduced an amendment that would do far

more to protect sexual assault victims than the original bill. My amendment required that (1) at the first instance of contact, law enforcement officials must notify victims of a sex crime that it is imperative that they receive post-exposure prophylactic treatment, and (2) that the treatment, in order to be most effective, must be started within 2 to 36 hours of the sexual assault. Moreover, my amendment required that the treatment and subsequent HIV counseling be paid for by the state. Law enforcement officials would also have to notify victims that their HIV status cannot be determined from a defendant’s HIV status. In fact, testing could give victims a false sense of hope—and that is downright dangerous. Just because a defendant turns out to test HIV negative does not mean that the victims will also test negative for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The idea of any single victim opting not to undergo testing or stopping prophylactic treatment for HIV just because the defendant in question has tested negative is frightening. The point of my amendment was in no way to protect an HIV-positive perpetrator. Far from it, the amendment would insure protection from disease for the victims of sexual assault. Originally, when the Senate voted on the measure, all my Republican col-

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

Seeking Meaningful HIV Information and Treatment for Sexual Assault Survivors

leagues from across the aisle failed to consider the virtue of the amendment and rejected it. Later, after closer consideration, both the Senate and Assembly saw merit in my amendment and added its provisions to the bill that ultimately passed both houses. Sadly, however, the testing of criminal defendants remains in place—therefore, while sexual assault victims will be allowed free prophylactic treatment after their assault, they will still be given the false message that testing their alleged attacker for HIV will reflect their own HIV status. As a result, we have failed victims this time. I hope we will not do so again.

Thomas Duane is a Democrat representing parts of Manhattan in the State Senate. He is the assistant minority leader for policy and administration.

was a big part of anyone’s education. So here we are, all these years later. I went to work for Fred Ohrenstein as a consultant when he was in the State Senate. I’ve been a college professor, a newspaper columnist, a public radio executive and run the Legislative Gazette newspaper, which brings young people from all over the United States to learn journalism in Albany. My story is hardly unique. It was easy to be a political scientist when you grew up with the types mentioned above drinking coffee in your living room. I remember once coming into the living room on West 96th Street all full of myself as a fledgling political science student and there they all were: Ted Weiss and Fred Ohrenstein and Blumenthal, and I listened for a moment and then ventured an opinion. Ohrenstein looked up and said something like, “Oh, God, not another one who is going to want my job.” My mother always spoke of her relationship with Mayor Robert F. Wagner, whom she loved. I was never quite sure whether she was, as Pete Seeger once sang, “Puttin’ on the style.” But one time my friend Gerald Benjamin, the dean of New Paltz College, where I taught for many years, got me on a study trip to Japan that was being led by thenComptroller Ned Regan. We were standing around at the airport waiting to leave when the old and long-out-of-office Mayor Wagner came in accompanied by his son Bobby Wagner, a prominent politician in his own right. Well, Regan made a bee line to chat up the old mayor and I ambled over. I don’t think Ned appreciated my butting in, but maybe I’m just projecting. I was, however, determined to see whether he remembered my mom or whether she might have been gilding the lily just a bit. So, I stuck out my hand and I said, “I think you may have known my mom, Mayor. I’m Alan Chartock.” He said, “Wait a minute, are you one of the twins?” Relationship confirmed. Tear in the eye.

Alan Chartock is the president and CEO of WAMC/Northeast Public Radio and the executive publisher and project director of the Legislative Gazette.

For more on Albany, it’s WAMC.org.

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JULY 2007

CITY HALL

Taxi Industry Worries Over Timetable and Scope of Bloomberg’s Hybrid Plan

affected by inertia, so they need to be given a strong reason to change,” Yassky said. PlaNYC, Bloomberg’s 127-point sustainability plan, was the next step towards replacing the entire fleet. But some in the taxi industry fear that the timetable will leave little opportunity to road test hybrids’ durability, safety and comfort. They also say New York City should consider other fuel efficient alternatives. “I don’t think, as of now, there is the right hybrid at the right price,” said Vincent Sapone, managing director of League of Mutual Taxi Owners, a financial institution providing business loans and legal representation for 3,400 yellow medallion owners and black car drivers. Sapone said he supports going green, but that the current hybrid models on the road are too small to transport passengers and luggage. And even though hybrid drivers save money on gas, he said there are upfront costs of at least $1,000, and higher insurance premiums than for the cars now used as standard yellow taxis. These concerns can be addressed, Sapone said, if medallion owners, TLC leaders and car dealerships work on new models that can be road tested for at least five years before comMayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed making mitting to an industry-wide change. all 13,000 yellow taxis hybrids by 2012. Then there are some from the non-medallion replace yellow taxis. Instead, he explained, energy per- industry who support increasing the scope of clean air formance standards are being set for the new technolo- benefits. Fernando Mateo, spokesman for the New York State gy which may be put in use in the coming years. Bloomberg originally wanted to phase in hybrids over 10 years. He credits Council Member David Yassky (D-Brooklyn) with convincing him to try to complete the process within five years. Yassky, a longtime advocate of a green fleet, said he supports hybrids as the city’s new fuel efficient cars. He dismisses critics. “They have been on the street now for three years. There is now enough experience with hybrids as taxis to Federation of Taxi Drivers, said he believes Bloomberg wants to expand the plan, but, as of now, PlaNYC see they work just fine,” he said. In 2002, the City Council passed legislation for a pilot excludes lower-income areas in the outer boroughs that program mandating 80 hybrid-only yellow medallions. are served primarily by outdated livery cabs. Gallagher, Bloomberg’s spokesman, explained that By 2004, that number had expanded to 330, Yassky said. Last year, the Council added the incentive that taxi driv- the mayor’s office is working with stakeholders to ers with hybrids could keep their cars in service longer, implement a plan similar to the one for taxis. He noted, though Yassky said the Council found few owners were however, that the administration lacks the authority to mandate standards for livery cabs. taking advantage of the incentives. “Most people, including business people, tend to be ekraushar@manhattanmedia.com

A possible red light in mayor’s efforts to turn yellow taxis green BY ELIZABETH KRAUSHAR HE PLAN IS WORKING.

SCRATCH THAT. THE plan is a work-in-progress. New York City is expanding the scope of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (Unaff.) hybrid vehicles plan to consider all fuel efficient alternatives, though some in the taxi industry have raised concerns about the plan’s aggressive timetable. In May, Bloomberg announced that the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) will be phasing in hybrids to replace current taxicabs over the next five years. This new so-called green fleet, Bloomberg said, would give the city the largest, cleanest fleet on the planet. Though Bloomberg spoke only of hybrids, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) issued a request for proposals, seeking a consultant or consultant team to assist in the development of a new iconic taxi. The deadline is July 23. According to the EDC, the design must be reasonably priced and maintained, eco-friendly and proportioned for an urban environment. To date, 400 of the more than 13,000 cars with yellow medallions are hybrids. While the city is actively searching for all kinds of fuel efficient technologies, TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus said he has confidence in the hybrids’ performance. “According to our staff that oversees the expenses, they have reported no issues,” Daus said. This includes the need for batteries replaced—an issue hybrid critics often cite as a potentially major problem. Hybrid taxis on the street today are the only vehicles that currently meet fuel efficiency standards of at least 25 miles per gallon. However, John Gallagher, a spokesman for Bloomberg, specified that the administration is not mandating the hybrid as the only car to

Flower Power hile the search for a fuel-efficient vehicle continues, the standard yellow taxis currently in use will get a new look this fall, starting in September. Thousands of children in hospitals, schools and after-school programs throughout the city are painting brightly-colored flowers on adhesive, weather-proof panels that will be applied to the hoods, trunks and roofs of most of the fleet. The privately-funded “Garden in Transit” project is a subsidiary of Portraits of Hope, co-founded by Ed Massey. Massey said the project is being funded by donations and powered by volunteers, labor that he estimates would otherwise cost approximately $1,000 per vehicle. Massey called the project a form of creative therapy that also teaches kids the benefits of community work. —EK ekraushar@manhattanmedia.com

Some in the taxi industry fear that the timetable will leave little opportunity to road test hybrids’ durability, safety and comfort.

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JULY 2007

Hot Dog Days of Summer

lack of good American hotdogs in the People’s Republic. Though he said he had loved his time in Albany, Straniere insisted his job in the Assembly had no bearing on his current one. “There’s absolutely no connection whatsoever,” he said. Straniere said he and his partner, Fred Catapano, spent the years since working on opening the flagship store in, as Straniere calls it through his Staten Island accent, “TriBeC-er,” at the corner of Chambers and Church streets. His son is also involved with the business, which hopes to open stores in all five boroughs, and possibly China as well. Before the ribbon cutting, a cavalcade of New York City characters showed their support for Straniere as if he were running for office again. Among them was Dominic Chianese, who played Uncle Junior on HBO’s “The Sopranos,” and is also a well-known singer. At his turn to speak, Chianese tried his hand at what may become the company

dled under a tent as the rain fell, but helped Gioa raise more than $5,000 in small contributions (a $10 suggested entrance fee earned attendees a hot dog and a beverage each). In total, he has raised $1.3 million to date. He still will not formally say what he is raising money for, though he often says he wants to continue being "an advocate for the public."

Bullpen Upgraded, Council Chamber Continues to Crumble

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

What do Uncle Junior, a New York Knicks star, an Elvis impersonator and a former Assembly member have in common? They love hot dogs. As Eliot Spitzer, Sheldon Silver and Joseph Bruno were negotiating behind closed doors on the last day of the regular session June 21, former Assembly Member Robert Straniere (R-Staten Island) was doing something else entirely: overseeing the grand opening of the New York City Hot Dog Company, his new business, which is located just blocks from City Hall. As a Knicks season ticket holder, Straniere spent a lot of time at concessions stands and has come to be a hot dog lover. The dogs got rave reviews, including one from Guardian Angel leader Curtis Sliwa, who declared himself a connoisseur of hot dogs. “We know that real dirty water dogs come from the big N.Y.C.,” he said after calling Straniere’s excellent. “And I’ve eaten all kinds of dirty water dogs.” Straniere served two decades in the Assembly before losing a Republican primary to Vincent Ignizio. Ignizio is now in the City Council, after winning a special election earlier this year. Straniere said he got the idea for the store on a post-election trip to China. Over a duck dinner in Beijing, several Chinese businesspeople lamented the

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Former Assembly Member Robert Straniere has refocused his ambitions on the New York City Hot Dog Company. jingle, singing, “when you’re in New York City, have a New York City Hot Dog.”

Comrie Attends Symbolic Burial in Texas Over July 4th weekend, Council Member Leroy Comrie (D-Queens) went to Houston, Texas to attend the funeral of what he calls “the Nword.” As part of the ceremony, a coffin was buried in a Texas cemetery along with an axe, a replica of a Ku Klux Klan robe, a burned cross and a noose. Comrie was invited to Texas by Tammie Lang Campbell, the founder of Honey Brown Hope Foundation, a nonprofit cultural group which paid for his trip. During his keynote speech, Comrie discussed the resolution passed by the City Council in February creating a citywide moratorium on the word. Comrie said that he often hears school-aged children using the word in his district in Queens. “They’re using the word without thought to the pain and suffering that people in the civil rights movement have come to,” he said.

Showered with Money in a Monsoon Even in an intense thunderstorm July 11, City Council Member Eric Gioia (DQueens) still attracted 150 people to his annual beach party fundraiser at the Water Taxi's Long Island as the clock ticked down on the deadline for the July campaign finance filing. The crowd hud-

Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Unaff.) and his staff moved to Brooklyn for two weeks in July while his bullpen got an electrical upgrade, but there are many more plans for renovations in the works for the 200-year old building. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which oversees city-owned buildings, is working together with the offices of mayor and Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) to identify and prioritize building improvements. Jennifer Blum, spokesperson for the department, said the estimated cost for the overall renovation project is $60 million. Last year, the executive budget proposal earmarked $16.4 million over four years to repair the front steps, improve the building’s single elevator, and install central air-conditioning. Since then, Blum said the department has identified additional structural problems, such as the ventilation equipment that needs to be replaced within the Council chamber’s ceiling, which must be done before repairs to the ceiling’s long deteriorating mural façade can occur. Quinn’s office has yet to establish a timeline or an exact funding amount for the additional structural work that needs to be completed. Renovations to City Hall are not mentioned in the online version of the expenses in the coming year’s city budget. Austin Shafran, spokesperson for Finance Committee Chair David Weprin (D-Queens), said he was not aware of funds allocated for this purpose. According to Quinn spokesman Anthony Hogrebe, “all aspects of the proposed renovation are still being finalized.” Past renovations to the Council chamber have been put off because of concerns about displacing the Council and disrupting its operations. Bloomberg and his staff, however, used their time in Brooklyn as “an opportunity to test the continuity of operations plan,” according to Bloomberg spokesman Jason Post.

New Jobs for Millard, Brennan Former New York City Council Member Charles Millard has been nominated by President George W. Bush (R) to serve as the director and CEO of the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation in Washington, D.C. Millard represented the East Side of Manhattan from 1991 until 1995, when he left to serve as the president of the Economic Development Corporation. “The work that I did running the Economic Development Corporation is highly applicable, because it was a government enterprise that engaged in private sector activity on behalf of the government, and that’s very much what PBGC does,” Millard said. The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, which has $60 billion in assets, insures the pensions of over 30 million workers and retirees across the United States. The corporation pays out $4 billion annually in pension benefits to individuals whose pension plans have been terminated. Millard’s appointment is subject to Senate confirmation. Until that confirmation happen, he will serve as interim director. Millard said that if his appointment is confirmed, he will face the challenge of enacting the Pension Protection Act of 2006, one of the largest reforms to federal pension policy since the corporation was created. Millard leaves a job at Broadway Partners, where he served as Managing Director for three years. Patrick Brennan, former Commissioner of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Community Assistance Unit, will now be president of a new political and strategic communications division at The Parkside Group. A close ally of Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey, Brennan worked for 1199 SEIU before joining the Bloomberg campaign and then administration.

Bernstein, Kuryk, New Political Power Couple Hildy Kuryk and Jarrod Bernstein were married Sunday, June 24. Kuryk is the New York senior finance consultant for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s (D) presidential campaign. Bernstein is the deputy commissioner of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (Unaff.) Community Assistance Unit. He was until earlier this year the press secretary for city’s Office of Emergency Management. The two were introduced by a friend of Bernstein who also works for Kuryk. —By Elizabeth Kraushar, Joseph Meyers, Dan Rivoli

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J U LY 2007

: Air Time ark Green served two terms as New York City’s public advocate, but he is remembered by many for the races he did not win—one for a House seat, two for Senate, one for mayor and one last year for attorney general. Six months after he lost that last race, his brother, Stephen, purchased the almost-defunct Air America radio network, which provides liberal and progressive talk radio to stations around the country. Stephen Green became the network’s chairman of the board, and he hired Mark Green to serve as company president, between finishing a new paperback edition of his 2006 book Losing Our Democracy, continuing to teach his freshman political science honors seminar at New York University and, as of July 3, returning as one of NY1’s “Wise Guys.” He also co-hosts a Saturday radio show with Arianna Huffington. Green recently discussed what a life in politics taught him about running a media company, what he thinks of the job Andrew Cuomo is doing as attorney general and how he sees a potential threeway New Yorker race for president factoring into his plans to make Air America profitable. What follows is an edited transcript of the conversation. City Hall: How has the transition been? Mark Green: Easier than I thought. It turns out that maybe half the skills or experience I had in public life are transferable to taking a radio network from red to black. Although, when the bottom line is profit rather than virtue or legislation, it is a startling change. Like the lights are on and you got to pay your bill. It’s not enough to say “Let’s change the policy on utilities.” CH: Is the goal to make it profitable? MG: The goal is to make it profitable and influential, and it can’t be one without the other. If it’s not profitable, I assure you it won’t be influential. CH: The New York Post is influential, but not profitable. It loses money every year. MG: Excellent counter-example, which implies, perhaps, that Steve Green is Rupert Murdoch. I know Rupert Murdoch. Steve Green is no Rupert Murdoch. CH: You were on the recent end of press coverage for many years as a public official and as a candidate. How does that shape how you approach the job leading a radio network? MG: It can defang me. When a public person makes a mistake, often a viewer’s reaction will be, “Oh, what an idiot.” My reaction is, “Give the guy a break. He said a million words and so late one afternoon, when he’s been tired and pushed too hard, he slips up like we all do, except it’s on videotape forever.” Whether this is a virtue or a liability, I’ll leave it for others to decide, but because I’ve run for office, won office, lost for office, been lauded more than I deserve and personally belittled more than I deserve, I really can put myself in the shoes of the public figures and candidates that we cover.

ANDREW SCHWARTZ

Mark Green, president of Air America, at the sound board. CH: Has it been useful in the new job to have all the political relationships you built up over the years? MG: It’s beyond useful. It’s indispensable. And so when we—I’m very friendly with Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA), I know obviously Sen. [Charles] Schumer (DNY) very well. I work with a Center for American Progress. The hundreds of associations I’ve built up over time is the matrix that I’m now working in. And so I absolutely will go to major unions and public interest groups to potentially sponsor or broker a show on a weekend on Air America. I absolutely have contacted public people I know to be interviewed. It’s good for them and it’s great for us and as president of Air America radio that’s a value I’m adding that I hope is measurable. CH: Do you think you are more suited to a life in business and radio than a life in politics? MG: I said the night I lost the attorney general primary that I wasn’t that good a politician. I thought I was a pretty good advocate and public official. But frequently, I watch the opposition say, “Look, I’d like your support. I’ll appoint your brother-in-law. I’ll always take your phone call. I’ll give you all of Queens.” I had no idea how to do that. … Here, you don’t have one night where it’s winner take all and loser goes home. It’s a daily glorious fight for audience, ratings, even affiliates. It’s not quite as make-orbreak, although Air America came close when it went chapter 11 in October of ’06 before we got here. I get no credit or blame for anything that came before March 1. CH: What’s your take on Andrew Cuomo’s approach to the job as attorney general? How would your first six months have been different if you had been elected? MG: The truth? I have no idea. Right? I mean, you can’t make up a case. I assume I would have pursued the student loan cases, but it’s a hypothetical that serves no purpose because I’d simply be speculating. And then when I’m asked how he’s doing, the answer is, I also hardly know and I only know the headlines I read. I’m not in any touch with anyone in his office. So, finally, I don’t go there. It’s like the girl you didn’t marry. CH: You dealt a lot with Rudy Giuliani while you were public advocate. What do you make of him being thought of as the Republican presidential front-runner? MG: He promised to appoint me attorney general.

CH: Did you ever expect him to have this kind of national potential? MG: It’s amazing and dismaying. He has the intelligence and work ethic to be president, but not the character or honesty. And you know we kind of went at it almost daily for eight years. We’re not supportive of each other obviously but his front runner, so-called front-runner status is diminishing the more Republicans look at him. He’s having a hard time now, actually. You look at what the fire fighters are saying. You look at what the rescue workers are saying, you look at [former Police Commissioner Bernard] Kerik’s upcoming trial. You read Wayne Barrett’s book. CH: What about Michael Bloomberg? What do you think about all this chatter of him? MG: He’s brilliant if he doesn’t do it. It’s not smart if he does. And I’m just amazed at how much he’s getting away with in terms of his staff saying he’s going to do it and his saying he’s not going to do it. Does he ever talk to them? It’s a well-orchestrated minuet. CH: One way or another it looks like we may have three New York candidates running for president. What is your take on that? MG: This is like a multidimensional subway series. It’s like a subway and bus series with all three. CH: So as a political radio network coming up in New York, trying to turn it around at this moment must make you optimistic. MG: Now, I happen to be Jewish, and there’s an expression, that if something happens in the middle of Timbuktu, my mother would say, “Well, is it good for the Jews?” If Hillary and Rudy and Mike somehow are all the major party candidates in ’08, would it be good for Air America radio? Yes, it would be. But since we can’t significantly affect that line-up, we’ll just play it as it lays. —Edward-Isaac Dovere eidovere@manhattanmedia.com

For an extended transcript of the conversation, including Mark Green’s take on what the loss of Al Franken’s show means for Air America, why he went back to NY1’s “Wise Guys,” what he thinks about Fox News and forcing his own views on his radio hosts and the role his brother plays in the company, go to